将门 (jiàng mén) — family of a general; military family with a tradition of command

Definition

A family with a tradition of producing generals — used in literary/historical writing, e.g. 将门之后 ('descendant of a general's family'). Not used for ordinary military households.

noun
family of a generalmilitary family with a tradition of command
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 将门，。
    Tā chū shēn jiàng mén, cóng xiǎo jiù xué xí bīng fǎ.
    He comes from a general's family and studied military strategy from a young age.
  • 将门，。
    jiàng mén Zhī hòu, guǒ rán bù tóng fán xiǎng.
    As a descendant of a general's family, he truly stands out.
  • 将门。
    Lì shǐ shàng hěn duō míng jiàng dōu chū zì jiàng mén.
    Many famous generals in history came from military families.

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.

将jiānggeneral
门ménhousehold

将 is a general and 门 refers to a household, meaning a general's family.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 將; 将 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat
寸寸cùnhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
爿
爿pán將jiāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 將 combines 爿, which also supplies a sound and may show a small table, with ⺼ (meat) and 寸 (hand) to picture offering meat as tribute. The simplified 将 is a later shorthand.

Open 将 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

Open 门 →

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