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养生 (yǎng shēng) — to nourish one's health; to practice health preservation; to nurture; to raise (a child or animal)

Definition

养生 (yǎng shēng) is the traditional Chinese practice of preserving health through diet, exercise, and lifestyle — more of a lifelong cultivation than 保健, which is clinical preventive care.

verb
to nourish one's healthto practice health preservationto nurtureto raise (a child or animal)

Examples

  • 养生。
    Xiàn zài hěn duō rén kāi shǐ zhù zhòng yǎng shēng.
    Nowadays many people are starting to focus on health preservation.
  • 养生？
    Nǐ yǎng shēng de fāng fǎ shì shén me?
    What is your method of health preservation?
  • 养生。
    Zhōng yī yǎng shēng jiǎng jiu píng héng.
    Traditional Chinese medicine health preservation emphasizes balance.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

养yǎngnourish
生shēnglife

养 means nourish and 生 means life, so 养生 is about nourishing life for health.

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 養; 养 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 養 uses 羊 as a sound part and 食 as a meaning part.

Open 养 →

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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