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意境 (yì jìng) — artistic conception; mood or meaning evoked (in literature, painting, music)

Definition

意境 is the overall mood or atmosphere an artwork (poem, painting, music) creates — the felt 'world' behind the images, not the literal subject. It is specifically an aesthetic term tied to Chinese art and literature.

noun
artistic conceptionmood or meaning evoked (in literature, painting, music)

Examples

  • 意境，。
    Zhè shǒu gǔ shī de yì jìng fēi cháng shēn yuǎn, lìng rén huí wèi wú qióng.
    The artistic conception of this ancient poem is profound, leaving an endless aftertaste.
  • 意境。
    Zhōng guó shān shuǐ huà zuì jiǎng jiu yì jìng de yíng zào.
    Chinese landscape painting places the greatest emphasis on creating artistic conception.
  • 意境，。
    Tā shè jì de yuán lín yì jìng yōu jìng, fǎng fú shì wài táo yuán.
    The garden he designed has a tranquil artistic conception, like a paradise beyond the mortal world.

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.

意yìmeaning or feeling
境jìngrealm or setting

意 is the meaning or feeling, and 境 is the realm or setting; together it is the artistic mood.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
竟
竟jìng境jìng
Same sound today

境 pairs 土 (earth) with 竟, which gives the sound; the 土 part carries the meaning.

Open 境 →
Appears in
Art & Fine Arts

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