列国 (liè guó) — various states/kingdoms (historical or literary term)

Definition

Literary/historical term for the multiple rival states of a period (e.g. the Spring and Autumn 春秋 states), not modern 'countries' (国家/各国).

noun
various states/kingdoms (historical or literary term)

Examples

  • ，列国。
    Chūn qiū shí qī, liè guó zhēng bà.
    During the Spring and Autumn period, the various states vied for hegemony.
  • 列国。
    Tā xiě le yì běn guān yú liè guó lì shǐ de shū.
    He wrote a book about the history of the various states.
  • 列国。
    Zhè běn shū jiè shào le gǔ dài liè guó de wén huà.
    This book introduces the culture of the ancient various states.

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.

列lièvarious
国guóstate

列 (various) and 国 (state) combine to mean many states or kingdoms.

Characters in this word

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

列 combines 歹, drawn as skeletal remains, and 刀, a knife, to depict tearing apart.

Open 列 →

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →

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