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上游 (shàng yóu) — upper reaches of a river; upstream area (geography); leading position; top rank; forefront (figurative, e.g. in competition or industry chain)

Definition

Literally 'upper reaches' of a river; figuratively 'upstream' end of an industry chain (raw materials, suppliers), the opposite of 下游. Pairs naturally with 产业链/价值链.

noun
upper reaches of a riverupstream area (geography)leading positiontop rankforefront (figurative, e.g. in competition or industry chain)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 上游。
    Zhè tiáo hé de shàng yóu shuǐ zhì fēi cháng qīng chè.
    The water quality in the upper reaches of this river is very clear.
  • ，上游。
    Zài zhè ge háng yè, wǒ men gōng sī chǔ yú chǎn yè liàn shàng yóu.
    In this industry, our company is at the upstream portion of the industrial chain.
  • ，上游。
    Tā xué xí fēi cháng kè kǔ, yì zhí zhēng qǔ shàng yóu.
    He studies very hard and always strives for the top position.

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.

上shàngupper
游yóureach

上 marks the upper part, and 游 names the river's reach, so it means the upper reaches.

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 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
斿
斿yóu游yóu
Same sound today

游 combines 水 (water) with 斿, which gives the sound yóu and also relates to travelling.

Open 游 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Geography & Landforms

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