大业 (dà yè) — great cause; grand undertaking; the throne; imperial sovereignty

Definition

A formal/literary noun for a 'great cause' or 'grand undertaking' — usually a historic mission (复兴, 革命) rather than everyday projects. In imperial contexts, it refers to the throne or sovereignty of the realm.

noun
great causegrand undertakingthe throneimperial sovereignty

Examples

  • ，大业。
    Shí xiàn zhōng huá mín zú de wěi dà fù xīng, shì wǒ men zhè yí dài rén de qiān qiū dà yè.
    Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the eternal great cause of our generation.
  • 大业，。
    Tā wèi le wán chéng gé mìng dà yè, xī shēng le zì jǐ de yí qiè.
    He sacrificed everything to fulfill the revolutionary cause.
  • ，大业。
    Zài gǔ dài, huáng wèi jì chéng guān xì dào guó jiā de dà yè.
    In ancient times, the succession to the throne concerned the great cause of the nation.

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.

大dàgreat
业yèundertaking

大 'great' and 业 'undertaking' combine to give a great cause.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 業; 业 is its simplified writing.

  • 丵丵zhuóchisel
  • 大大dàperson; big

The traditional 業 is explained as a picture of a beam from which bells and chimes hang, or as a person lifting that beam. The simplified 业 is a shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 业 →

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