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园林 (yuán lín) — (classical Chinese) landscape garden; ornamental garden; park (in a broader sense, but usually refers to a designed garden)

Definition

园林 refers to a designed or ornamental landscape garden, especially in the classical Chinese tradition (rockeries, ponds, pavilions) — narrower than 公园 (a public park for recreation) and broader than 花园 (a flower garden).

noun
(classical Chinese) landscape gardenornamental gardenpark (in a broader sense, but usually refers to a designed garden)
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 园林。
    Sū zhōu de yuán lín shì shì jiè wén huà yí chǎn.
    The gardens of Suzhou are a World Cultural Heritage site.
  • 园林。
    Zhè zuò yuán lín de bù jú fēi cháng jiǎng jiu.
    The layout of this garden is very meticulous.
  • 园林。
    Yóu kè kě yǐ zài yuán lín lǐ xīn shǎng jiǎ shān hé chí táng.
    Visitors can enjoy rockeries and ponds in the garden.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

园yuángarden
林línwoods

园 (garden) and 林 (woods) together give garden grounds.

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
囗囗wéi
Sound part声符shēngfú
元
元yuán园yuán
Same sound today

In 园, 元 sits inside 囗, and 元 gives the sound.

Open 园 →

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

林 is made of two 木 (tree) placed side by side, showing many trees together, hence a forest.

Open 林 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6

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