家道 (jiā dào) — family financial situation; family fortunes; principles of homemaking; household management

Definition

Literary/classical term, almost always in set phrases like 家道中落 ('family fortunes declined') or 家道殷实 ('family well-off'). Not used in everyday speech for 'household management.'

noun
family financial situationfamily fortunesprinciples of homemakinghousehold management

Examples

  • 家道，。
    Tā jiā jiā dào fù yù, cóng xiǎo jiù guò zhe hǎo rì zi.
    His family was well-off, so he has lived a good life since childhood.
  • 家道。
    Nà běn shū jiǎng de shì chuán tǒng jiā dào de zhì huì.
    That book is about the wisdom of traditional household management.
  • ，家道。
    Jìn dài yǐ lái, xǔ duō jiù shì jiā zú jiā dào zhú jiàn shuāi luò.
    Since modern times, the fortunes of many old-style families have gradually declined.

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.

家jiāfamily
道dàoway

The word joins 家 (family) with 道 (way), referring to a family's condition or household principles.

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
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

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
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →

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