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后世 (hòu shì) — later generations; posterity

Definition

后世 refers to later generations as a collective group, especially in historical or cultural contexts. Unlike 后代 or 后人, which can mean personal descendants, 后世 emphasizes people across future eras — think 'posterity'.

noun
later generationsposterity

Examples

  • 后世。
    Zhè xiē gǔ jí duì hòu shì yán jiū lì shǐ fēi cháng zhòng yào.
    These ancient texts are very important for later generations to study history.
  • 后世。
    Tā de sī xiǎng yǐng xiǎng le hòu shì de xué zhě.
    His thoughts influenced scholars of later generations.
  • ，后世。
    Wǒ men yīng dāng bǎo hù huán jìng, wèi hòu shì liú xià měi hǎo de jiā yuán.
    We should protect the environment and leave a beautiful home for later generations.

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.

后hòulater
世shìgeneration

后 means later, 世 means generation; together they mean later generations.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 世 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Time (Abstract)

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