乡愁 (xiāng chóu) — homesickness (a deep longing for one's hometown or homeland); nostalgia (a sentimental, often melancholic yearning for the past associated with one's native place)

Definition

A literary, melancholic longing for one's hometown or homeland — more poetic and emotional than a simple 'homesick'. Often used for migrants, exiles, or overseas Chinese thinking of home.

noun
homesickness (a deep longing for one's hometown or homeland)nostalgia (a sentimental, often melancholic yearning for the past associated with one's native place)

Examples

  • ，乡愁。
    Lí kāi jiā xiāng duō nián, tā xīn zhōng chōng mǎn le xiāng chóu.
    After leaving his hometown for many years, his heart is filled with homesickness.
  • 乡愁。
    Zhè shǒu shī biǎo dá le zuò zhě duì gù xiāng de xiāng chóu.
    This poem expresses the author's nostalgia for his homeland.
  • ，乡愁。
    Měi féng jiā jié, hǎi wài yóu zǐ de xiāng chóu biàn yù fā nóng liè.
    During every festival, the homesickness of overseas Chinese becomes even more intense.

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.

乡xiānghometown
愁chóusorrow

乡 points to the hometown and 愁 to the sorrow felt for it.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鄉; 乡 is its simplified writing.

  • 𠨍𠨍𠨍two people facing each other
  • 皀皀jía round-mouthed food vessel

The traditional form 鄉 combines two people facing each other with a round-mouthed food vessel, depicting a feast. The village meaning is connected to this feasting event.

Open 乡 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
秋
秋qiū愁chóu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

愁 combines 秋, which gives the sound, with 心, the heart.

Open 愁 →

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