锲而不舍 (qiè ér bù shě)

Character breakdown

• 锲 (qiè) · 14 strokes

  Something engraved 契 in metal 钅; 契 also provides the pronunciation

• 而 (ér) · 6 strokes

  Originally a pictograph of a beard, now written as 耏. The current use as a conjunction is a phonetic loan.

• 不 (bù) · 4 strokes

  Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.

• 舍 (shě) · 8 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 余 represents the sound. 口 (mouth) indicates that the character is only "mouthed", i.e. only used for its phonetic value.

Usage

做学问需要锲而不舍的精神。

to chip away at a task and not abandon it (idiom); to chisel away at sth; to persevere; unflagging efforts

zuò xué wèn xū yào qiè ér bù shě de jīng shén 。