宣传画 (xuān chuán huà) — propaganda poster; political or social advocacy poster

Definition

A poster made to persuade — political slogans, social campaigns, or public-service messages on a printed picture. 宣传 is the persuasion; 画 emphasizes the printed-image form, narrower than 标语 (slogan) or 海报 (poster in general).

noun
propaganda posterpolitical or social advocacy poster
Measure word · 张

Examples

  • 宣传画，。
    Qiáng shàng tiē zhe yì fú xuān chuán huà, hào zhào dà jiā jié yuē yòng shuǐ.
    A propaganda poster is pasted on the wall, calling on everyone to save water.
  • 宣传画，。
    Zhè xiē xuān chuán huà shì shàng shì jì qī shí nián dài de zuò pǐn, xiàn zài hěn yǒu shōu cáng jià zhí.
    These propaganda posters are works from the 1970s and are now highly collectible.
  • 宣传画，。
    Zhǎn lǎn huì zhǎn chū le xǔ duō lì shǐ xuān chuán huà, jì lù le nà ge shí dài de fēng mào.
    The exhibition displayed many historical propaganda posters, recording the look of that era.

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.

宣传propagate
宣xuānproclaim传chuánspread
联合Side by side
画huàpicture

宣传 proclaims and spreads a message, and 画 is a picture, so it is an advocacy poster.

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
亘
亘gèn宣xuān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

宣 pairs the roof 宀, pointing to the emperor's main hall, with 亘 as the sound part. From that hall meaning, it came to mean clear or evident.

Open 宣 →

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 傳; 传 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān傳chuán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 傳 puts 人 (man) beside 專, which gives the sound; the simplified 传 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 传 →

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 畫; 画 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
聿聿yùbrush
Sound part声符shēngfú
規
規guī畫huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 畫 pairs 聿, a brush, with 規 for its sound. The simplified 画 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the old parts.

Open 画 →

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