大事记 (dà shì jì) — chronicle of important events

Definition

A 大事记 is a written chronicle that records major events in order, often of an organization, period, or institution. It is more structured and selective than a general 历史 (history).

noun
chronicle of important events

Examples

  • 大事记。
    Zhè běn dà shì jì jì lù le gōng sī de èr shí nián fā zhǎn lì chéng.
    This chronicle records the company's twenty-year development history.
  • 大事记。
    Měi gè guó jiā dōu yǒu zì jǐ de lì shǐ dà shì jì.
    Every country has its own historical chronicle.
  • 大事记。
    Tā zài dà xué qī jiān biān zuǎn le yí bù xiào yuán dà shì jì.
    During university, he compiled a campus chronicle.

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.

大事important events
大dàimportant事shìevent
偏正Modifier + head
记jìrecord

大 means important, 事 means events, and 记 means record, giving a chronicle of key events.

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.

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 記; 记 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech; words
Sound part声符shēngfú
己
己jǐ記jì
Same sound today

The traditional form 記 pairs 言 (speech; words) with 己 as a sound part; the simplified 记 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the historical component.

Open 记 →

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