外強中乾

strong in appearance but weak in reality (idiom)

China / Chinese / surname Zhong

within / among / in / middle / center / while (doing sth) / during / (dialect) OK / all right

to hit (the mark) / to be hit by / to suffer / to win (a prize, a lottery)

outside / in addition / foreign / external

old variant of 乾[qian2]

surname Qian

one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦[ba1 gua4], symbolizing heaven / male principle / ☰ / ancient Chinese compass point: 315° (northwest)

variant of 乾[qian2]

dry / dried food / empty; hollow / taken in to nominal kinship; adoptive; foster / futile; in vain / (dialect) rude; blunt / (dialect) to cold-shoulder

surname Qiang

stubborn / unyielding

strong / powerful / better / slightly more than / vigorous / violent / best in their category, e.g. see 百強|百强[bai3 qiang2]

to force / to compel / to strive / to make an effort