尘寰 (chén huán) — (literary) this mortal world; the human realm

Definition

Literary/poetic word for 'the mortal world' — the everyday human realm as opposed to heaven or the Buddhist afterlife. Pairs with 看破 and 远离 to express detachment from worldly life.

noun
(literary) this mortal worldthe human realm

Examples

  • 尘寰，。
    Tā kàn pò chén huán, chū jiā xiū xíng le.
    He saw through the mortal world and became a monk.
  • 尘寰。
    Zhè shǒu shī gǎn tàn chén huán zhōng de bēi huān lí hé.
    This poem laments the joys and sorrows of the human realm.
  • 尘寰，。
    Yuǎn lí chén huán de xuān xiāo, tā zhǎo dào le nèi xīn de píng jìng.
    Far from the noise of the mortal world, he found inner peace.

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.

尘chéndust
寰huánworld

尘 dust and 寰 world combine to mean the dusty mortal world.

Characters in this word

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

In 尘, 小 (small) sits above 土 (earth), giving the idea of tiny bits of earth.

Open 尘 →

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
睘
睘qióng寰huán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

寰 pairs 宀, a roof, with 睘, which gives the sound. The roof points to an enclosed domain around the capital.

Open 寰 →

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