城乡 (chéng xiāng) — urban and rural areas; city and countryside

Definition

A fixed pair meaning 'urban and rural' as a single concept — used in policy, development, and gap discussions (e.g. 城乡差距).

noun
urban and rural areascity and countryside
Easily confused

Examples

  • 城乡。
    chéng xiāng Chā jù zhèng zài suō xiǎo.
    The gap between urban and rural areas is narrowing.
  • 城乡。
    Zhèng fǔ zhì dìng le xīn de chéng xiāng fā zhǎn jì huà.
    The government has formulated a new urban-rural development plan.
  • ，城乡。
    Xǔ duō nián qīng rén cóng nóng cūn lái dào chéng shì, cù jìn le chéng xiāng jiāo liú.
    Many young people come from rural areas to cities, promoting urban-rural exchange.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

城chéngcity
乡xiāngcountryside

城 and 乡 name city and countryside together.

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
土土tǔsoil
Sound part声符shēngfú
成
成chéng城chéng
Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

Open 城 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鄉; 乡 is its simplified writing.

  • 𠨍𠨍𠨍two people facing each other
  • 皀皀jía round-mouthed food vessel

The traditional form 鄉 combines two people facing each other with a round-mouthed food vessel, depicting a feast. The village meaning is connected to this feasting event.

Open 乡 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.