Several parts combine into one character.

Phonetic-semantic compound: 扌 (hand radical, the left-side variant of 手) + 寺 (originally "office / government post", from earlier batch — providing phonetic value plus the secondary meaning "to hold a duty"). The encoded meaning: "to hold something in hand / to maintain a position". The 扌 hand radical is one of the most productive in the script — it appears in dozens of action verbs. Identical across 繁體 / 新字体 / 简体.

Mandarin: chí, rising 2nd tone. 持有 (chíyǒu, to possess), 支持 (zhīchí, to support — "branch-hold", an extremely high-frequency political/social word: 支持 a candidate, a cause, a friend), 坚持 (jiānchí, to persist / persevere — "firmly hold"), 主持 (zhǔchí, to host / preside over — TV hosts use this word), 保持 (bǎochí, to maintain). 支持 and 坚持 are both essential vocabulary for navigating modern Mandarin discourse.

Japanese: on-reading ジ (ji) for compounds — 持続 (jizoku, sustainability — used in environmental/business contexts: 持続可能 sustainable), 維持 (iji, maintenance / upkeep), 所持 (shoji, possession), 支持 (shiji, support / endorsement), 持参 (jisan, "bringing along" — used at events: 弁当持参 = "bring your own lunch"). Kun-reading も.つ (mo.tsu, to hold) is one of the highest-frequency Japanese verbs — 持つ covers physical holding (本を持つ, hold a book) and abstract possession (時間を持つ, have time). 気持ち (kimochi, "feeling" — already mentioned in 気 entry) literally combines 気 (energy) with 持ち — "what one holds in spirit".

The Japanese 持続可能 (jizoku kanō, "sustainable") has become a major modern keyword — Japanese SDGs reporting uses this term constantly.

Memory aid: hand + temple/duty = holding what you have been given to keep.