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乡镇 (xiāng zhèn) — townships and villages (collectively, the grassroots administrative level in rural China)

Definition

Refers collectively to the smallest administrative units in rural China — towns (镇) and the villages (乡) under them. Often paired with 企业 ('TVEs') or 建设 when discussing grassroots-level development.

noun
townships and villages (collectively, the grassroots administrative level in rural China)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 乡镇。
    xiāng zhèn Qǐ yè zài zhōng guó jīng jì zhōng bàn yǎn zhe zhòng yào jué sè.
    Township and village enterprises play an important role in China's economy.
  • 乡镇。
    Zhèng fǔ zhèng zài jiā dà xiāng zhèn jī chǔ shè shī jiàn shè lì dù.
    The government is increasing investment in infrastructure at the township and village level.
  • 乡镇。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù de chéng gōng dài dòng le zhōu wéi xiāng zhèn de fā zhǎn.
    The success of this project spurred the development of surrounding townships and villages.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

乡xiāngtownship
镇zhèntown

乡 names a township and 镇 names a town; together they refer to township and town areas.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鎮; 镇 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
真
真zhēn鎮zhèn
Same sound today

The traditional form 鎮 uses 金, metal, and 真, which gave its sound; it depicted pressing down with a metal weight. The simplified 镇 is a later abbreviation.

Open 镇 →
Appears in
HSK 2.0 Level 6

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