出巡 (chū xún) — to go on a royal progress (of a monarch); (of high officials) to make an inspection tour

Definition

A formal/literary verb for a ruler or high official traveling out to inspect their domain. Almost only seen in historical writing and news about official tours today.

verb
to go on a royal progress (of a monarch)(of high officials) to make an inspection tour

Examples

  • 出巡。
    Gǔ dài dì wáng jīng cháng chū xún xún shì quán guó.
    Ancient emperors often made royal progresses to inspect the whole country.
  • 出巡，。
    Zǒng dū chū xún shí, dì fāng guān yuán dōu yào yíng jiē.
    When the governor-general made his inspection tour, local officials all had to greet him.
  • 出巡。
    Zhè cì chū xún de zhòng diǎn shì shì chá biān fáng.
    The focus of this inspection tour was to inspect border defenses.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

出chūgo out
巡xúnpatrol

出 shows going out, and 巡 shows patrolling, giving the idea of an inspection tour.

Characters in this word

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

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

Open 出 →

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
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
川
川chuān巡xún
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

巡 pairs 辵, a walking part, with 川 as a sound part.

Open 巡 →

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