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保健 (bǎo jiàn) — to maintain good health; to take care of one's health through preventive measures

Definition

保健 means 'health care' as a general, modern-medical concept (checkups, prevention, public health). 养生 is the traditional lifestyle practice of nourishing health through diet, qi, and habits.

verb
to maintain good healthto take care of one's health through preventive measures

Examples

  • 保健，。
    Lǎo nián rén yào jīng cháng bǎo jiàn, cái néng shēn tǐ jiàn kāng.
    Elderly people should regularly maintain their health to stay physically well.
  • 保健，。
    Tā měi tiān jiān chí bǎo jiàn, suǒ yǐ hěn shǎo shēng bìng.
    He insists on maintaining his health every day, so he rarely gets sick.
  • 保健。
    Wǒ men yào xué huì kē xué dì bǎo jiàn.
    We need to learn to maintain our health scientifically.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

保bǎokeep
健jiànhealth

保 means keep, 健 means health; together they mean to maintain health.

Characters in this word

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

保 originally showed a person 人 carrying a child 子 on their back, which led to the sense of protecting.

Open 保 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
建
建jiàn健jiàn
Same sound today

The left part 亻 depicts a person, and the right part 建 gives the sound.

Open 健 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Fitness & Exercise

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