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天国 (tiān guó) — (Christianity) Kingdom of Heaven; paradise, utopia

Definition

天国 is 'Kingdom of Heaven' in Christian usage and 'paradise' as an ideal place. Note the second example refers to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom — a specific historical regime, not the religious sense.

noun
(Christianity) Kingdom of Heavenparadiseutopia

Examples

  • 天国。
    Tā xiāng xìn sǐ hòu huì jìn rù tiān guó.
    He believes he will enter the Kingdom of Heaven after death.
  • 天国。
    Tài píng tiān guó shì zhōng guó lì shǐ shàng yí gè zhòng yào de zhèng quán.
    The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was an important regime in Chinese history.
  • ，天国。
    Duì hěn duō rén lái shuō, xī zàng jiù xiàng shì rén jiān tiān guó.
    For many people, Tibet is like a paradise on earth.

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.

天tiānheaven
国guókingdom

“天” means heaven and “国” means kingdom, so the word denotes the kingdom of heaven.

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →
Appears in
Religion & Belief

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