精益求精 (jīng yì qiú jīng)

Character breakdown

• 精 (jīng) · 14 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 米 represents the meaning and 青 represents the sound.

• 益 (Yì) · 10 strokes

  Depicts food or drink filling up a container (皿). Based on the original meaning "overflow", now written as 溢. The meaning later shifted to "increase" and "benefit".

• 求 (qiú) · 7 strokes

  Pictograph of a crawling insect. The current meaning "seek" or "beg" is a phonetic loan.

• 精 (jīng) · 14 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 米 represents the meaning and 青 represents the sound.

Usage

他做事总是精益求精。

to perfect sth that is already outstanding (idiom); constantly improving

tā zuò shì zǒng shì jīng yì qiú jīng 。