三美 (sān měi) — three beauties / three excellences (a named concept in aesthetics, policy, or planning)

Definition

A fixed term referring to Xu Yuanchong's translation theory: 意美 (beauty in meaning), 音美 (beauty in sound), and 形美 (beauty in form). It is also used more broadly to denote a "three-beauties" framework in aesthetics or planning.

noun
three beauties / three excellences (a named concept in aesthetics, policy, or planning)

Examples

  • 渊三美。
    Xǔ yuān chōng xiān sheng tí chū le fān yì de sān měi lǐ lùn.
    Mr. Xu Yuanchong proposed the 'three beauties' theory of translation.
  • 三美。
    Zhè ge chéng shì zhèng zài tuī xíng sān měi jiàn shè jì huà.
    This city is implementing a 'three beauties' construction plan.
  • 三美、、。
    sān měi Zhǐ de shì yì měi, yīn měi, xíng měi.
    The 'three beauties' refer to beauty in meaning, sound, and form.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

三sānthree
美měibeauty

Three 美, three beauties or excellences, names a valued triad.

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 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

美 shows 大, a person, wearing 羊, a headdress of feathers or ram's horn.

Open 美 →

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