What's the meaning of life (生意 생의)?

 ANSWER: According to the Chinese, the "meaning of life" is "business."

The Chinese word 生意 (생의) can literally translate as "life's (生) meaning (意)," but in China the word means "business." The character 生 (생) is the same character used in the word 생명 (生命), which means "life," and 意 (의) is the same character used in the word 의미 (意味), which means "meaning."

Besides meaning "life," the character 生 (생) can also mean "to live," "to be born," "to give birth," or "to produce," so 生意 (생의) could also literally translate as "to produce (生) meaning (意)." 

In Korea, the word 생의 (生意) does not seem to be commonly used, but it supposedly means the same thing as생심 (生心), which seems to mean "to motivate oneself to do" (하려는 마음을 냄).

The Sino-Korean expression 견물생심 (見物生心) can literally translate as "Seeing (見) something (物) produces (生) motivation or desire (心)." My Korean-English dictionary defines the expression as "Seeing is wanting" or "The object gives rise to the desire."

The other words in the list are as follows:

• 意外 (의외) unexpected, accident
• 意見 (의견) opinion, idea
• 意思 (의사) meaning
• 同意 (동의) to agree with
• 故意 (고의) purposely
• 無意 (무의) unintentionally
• 無意思 (무의사) meaningless

From Understanding Chinese: A Guide to the Usage of Chinese Characters