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册封 (cè fēng) — to enfeoff, to confer (a noble title or fief)

Definition

A formal/historical verb meaning to officially grant a noble title or fief to someone, typically by a monarch. In modern Chinese it survives mainly in historical texts and ceremonial contexts.

verb
to enfeoffto confer (a noble title or fief)

Examples

  • 册封。
    Guó wáng cè fēng tā wèi gōng jué.
    The king enfeoffed him as a duke.
  • 册封。
    Zhè chǎng cè fēng yí shì fēi cháng lóng zhòng.
    This enfeoffment ceremony was very grand.
  • 册封，。
    Tā bèi cè fēng hòu, yōng yǒu le xǔ duō tǔ dì.
    After being enfeoffed, he possessed a lot of land.

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.

册cèregister/decree
封fēngconfer

册 is a register or decree and 封 is to confer, giving conferring a title by a register.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 冊; 册 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 冊 shows bamboo slips strung together, the pages of a book; the simplified 册 is a later shorthand.

Open 册 →

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
土土tǔearth
寸寸cùnhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丰
丰fēng封fēng
Same sound today

The shape 封 is 丰 plus 土 (earth) plus 寸 (hand); 丰 was originally drawn as a tree seedling.

Open 封 →
Appears in
Government & PoliticsHistory

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