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功臣 (gōng chén) — (historical) minister who has rendered outstanding service to the emperor; (modern) key contributor, person who has made significant contributions

Definition

功臣 literally means 'meritorious minister' but is widely used today for any 'key contributor / hero' behind a success. Unlike 大臣, it does not denote an official title or rank — 大臣 is the office, 功臣 is the credit earned.

noun
(historical) minister who has rendered outstanding service to the emperor(modern) key contributor, person who has made significant contributions
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 功臣。
    Zhè wèi gōng chén wèi guó jiā zuò chū le jù dà gòng xiàn.
    This minister has made enormous contributions to the country.
  • 功臣。
    Tā shì gōng sī fā zhǎn de zhòng yào gōng chén.
    He is a key contributor to the company's development.
  • 功臣。
    Zhè cì bǐ sài de gōng chén shì jiào liàn.
    The hero of this competition is the coach.

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.

功gōngmerit
臣chénminister

功 (merit) and 臣 (minister) combine to mean a minister with outstanding service.

Characters in this word

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
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng功gōng
Same sound today

功 puts 力 (strength) beside 工, which gives the sound gōng and means labour or work.

Open 功 →

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

臣 is shaped like a man's vertical eye looking downward.

Open 臣 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Social Roles & Status

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