樊篱 (fán lí) — (literal) fence, hedge; (figurative) barrier, restriction

Definition

A literary, figurative term for mental or ideological barriers, not physical ones — 'breaking the 樊篱 of thought or tradition' means overcoming deep-rooted restrictions.

noun
(literal) fencehedge(figurative) barrierrestriction

Examples

  • 樊篱。
    Dǎ pò sī xiǎng de fán lí xū yào yǒng qì.
    Breaking down the barriers of thought requires courage.
  • 樊篱。
    Tā men shì tú chōng pò chuán tǒng guān niàn de fán lí.
    They tried to break through the barriers of traditional concepts.
  • 樊篱。
    Zhè zuò chéng shì de fán lí yǐ jīng chāi chú.
    The fences of this city have been removed.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

樊fánfence
篱líhedge

“樊” and “篱” both refer to fence or hedge; together they name a barrier.

Characters in this word

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

  • 棥棥fánfence
  • 𠬜𠬜𠬜two hands

樊 combines 棥, which may have shown a fence between two trees, with 𠬜, two hands.

Open 樊 →

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 籬; 篱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
離
離lí籬lí
Same sound today

The traditional form 籬 pairs 竹, bamboo, with 離, a sound part, to write a fence; the simplified 篱 is a later abbreviation.

Open 篱 →

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