晨礼 (chén lǐ) — morning gift (traditional gift from husband to wife on the second day of marriage)

Definition

A traditional Chinese wedding custom: the morning gift the groom gives his bride on the second day after the marriage ceremony. Rooted in historical practice and still preserved in some regions today.

noun
morning gift (traditional gift from husband to wife on the second day of marriage)
Measure word · 份

Examples

  • ，晨礼。
    Zài gǔ dài, xīn láng huì zài hūn hòu dì èr tiān zǎo shàng gěi xīn niáng sòng chén lǐ.
    In ancient times, the groom would present a morning gift to the bride on the morning of the second day after the wedding.
  • 晨礼。
    chén lǐ De chuán tǒng zài yì xiē dì fāng réng rán bǎo liú zhe.
    The tradition of the morning gift is still preserved in some places.
  • 晨礼。
    Zhè ge chén lǐ dài biǎo le zhàng fu duì xīn niáng de zūn zhòng.
    This morning gift represents the husband's respect for the bride.

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.

晨chénmorning
礼lǐgift

The sense comes from 晨 (morning) and 礼 (gift), together meaning a gift given in the morning.

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
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
辰
辰chén晨chén
Same sound today

The shape 晨 adds 日 (sun) to 辰, which gives the sound; it was originally written as 辰 alone.

Open 晨 →

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 禮; 礼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
礻Written in full as示shìaltar
Sound part声符shēngfú
豊
豊lǐ禮lǐ
Same sound today

The traditional form 禮 pairs 礻 (altar) with 豊, a sound part, for performing rites at the altar; the simplified 礼 is a later shorthand.

Open 礼 →

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