三毛 (sān máo) — (cartoon character) San Mao, a poor street boy with three strands of hair created by Zhang Leping; (person) San Mao, pen name of Taiwanese writer Chen Ping (1943–1991)

Definition

Two famous cultural figures share this name: a 1930s–40s cartoon street boy with three hairs (created by 张乐平), and the pen name of Taiwanese writer Chen Ping (1943–1991). Context — cartoon book vs. literary author — makes the reference clear.

noun
(cartoon character) San Mao, a poor street boy with three strands of hair created by Zhang Leping(person) San Mao, pen name of Taiwanese writer Chen Ping (1943–1991)

Examples

  • 《三毛》。
    Wǒ xiǎo shí hou zuì xǐ huan kàn 《sān máo》 de gù shi.
    When I was young, I loved reading the stories of San Mao.
  • 三毛，。
    sān máo Shì tái wān zhù míng de zuò jiā, tā de zuò pǐn yǐng xiǎng le xǔ duō rén.
    San Mao is a famous writer from Taiwan; her works influenced many people.
  • 三毛。
    Zhāng lè píng chuàng zuò de sān máo xíng xiàng jiā yù hù xiǎo.
    The image of San Mao created by Zhang Leping is known to every household.

Origin

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

三 is drawn as three parallel strokes, like 一 with one stroke and 二 with two.

Open 三 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

毛 is drawn as a feather or hair, with its strokes tracing the shape of the feather or hair.

Open 毛 →

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