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宗庙 (zōng miào) — royal ancestral temple

Definition

宗庙 (zōngmiào) is the formal, classical term for the royal ancestral temple where emperors performed ancestor worship — a cultural-historical term, not a place of general worship like 庙.

noun
royal ancestral temple
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 宗庙。
    Gǔ dài huáng dì měi nián dōu yào qù zōng miào jì zǔ.
    Ancient emperors went to the royal ancestral temple every year to worship their ancestors.
  • 宗庙，。
    Zhè zuò zōng miào jiàn yú zhōu cháo, yǐ yǒu sān qiān duō nián lì shǐ.
    This royal ancestral temple was built in the Zhou dynasty and has a history of over three thousand years.
  • 宗庙。
    zōng miào Shì gǔ dài wáng shì jì zǔ de zhòng yào chǎng suǒ.
    The royal ancestral temple was an important place for the ancient royal family to worship their ancestors.

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.

宗zōngancestral line
庙miàotemple

宗 refers to the ancestral line and 庙 is a temple; together they mean an ancestral temple.

Characters in this word

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

  • 宀宀miánhouse
  • 示示shìspirit tablet

宗 pairs 宀, a house, with 示, a spirit tablet, to show an ancestral shrine or temple.

Open 宗 →

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 廟; 庙 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎng
Sound part声符shēngfú
朝
朝cháo廟miào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 廟 uses 广 to show the meaning and 朝 for the sound.

Open 庙 →
Appears in
Chinese Culture & CustomsReligion & Belief

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