卫道士 (wèi dào shì) — apologist; defender of a (moral or ideological) doctrine (often pejorative)

Definition

Often pejorative: someone who rigidly defends a doctrine or tradition and rejects any change. The literal 'guard of the Way' hints at a stubborn, old-fashioned defender rather than a neutral champion.

noun
apologistdefender of a (moral or ideological) doctrine (often pejorative)

Examples

  • 卫道士，。
    Zhè xiē suǒ wèi de wèi dào shì zhī huì wéi hù jiù guī ju, cóng bú yuàn yì jiē shòu xīn sī xiǎng.
    These so-called apologists only defend old rules and never accept new ideas.
  • 卫道士，。
    Tā bú yuàn yì dāng wèi dào shì, ér shì xuǎn zé lǐ xìng dì tǎo lùn wèn tí.
    He doesn't want to be an apologist; instead he chooses to discuss issues rationally.
  • ，卫道士。
    Zài zhè ge lùn tán shàng, yǒu rén bàn yǎn le chuán tǒng lǐ jiào de wèi dào shì.
    On this forum, some people acted as apologists for traditional rites.

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.

卫道defend the doctrine
卫wèidefend道dàodoctrine
动宾Verb + object
士shìperson

'卫' means defend, '道' the doctrine, and '士' a person, so it pictures one who defends a moral doctrine.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 衛; 卫 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
行行xíng
Sound part声符shēngfú
韋
韋wéi衛wèi
Same sound today

The traditional form 衛 is built from 行 as the sense part and 韋 as the sound part; the simplified 卫 is a shorthand.

Open 卫 →

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
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →

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

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

Open 士 →

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