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上山 (shàng shān) — to go up a hill or mountain; (euphemistic) to die and be buried (in rural contexts)

Definition

Literal: 'go up a mountain/hill', used for hiking or trips into the hills. In rural speech it is a euphemism for dying and being buried in one's hometown.

verb
to go up a hill or mountain(euphemistic) to die and be buried (in rural contexts)

Examples

  • 上山。
    Wǒ men míng tiān yì qǐ shàng shān ba.
    Let's go up the mountain together tomorrow.
  • ，。
    Tā men shàng le yí cì shān, pāi le hěn duō zhào piàn.
    They went up the mountain once and took many photos.
  • 上山，。
    Lǎo rén qù nián shàng shān le, zàng zài le lǎo jiā.
    The old man went up the mountain last year and was buried in his hometown.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

上shànggo up
山shānmountain

上 means to go up and 山 names the mountain, so the meaning is to go up a mountain.

Characters in this word

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

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.

Open 上 →

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

山 shows three mountain peaks side by side.

Open 山 →
Appears in
Geography & Landforms

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