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后人 (hòu rén) — later generations; posterity

Definition

后人 refers broadly to future or later generations as a whole, often with a sense of responsibility toward them. 子孙 and 后裔 focus on biological descendants of a specific person or family.

noun
later generationsposterity

Examples

  • 后人。
    Zhè xiē wén huà yí chǎn xū yào liú gěi hòu rén.
    These cultural relics need to be left for later generations.
  • 后人。
    hòu rén Huì jì zhù wǒ men jīn tiān de nǔ lì.
    Later generations will remember our efforts today.
  • 后人。
    Wǒ men yīng dāng wèi hòu rén bǎo hù huán jìng.
    We should protect the environment for future 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
人rénpeople

后 'later' and 人 'people' together mean people who come after.

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 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6People (General)

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