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民工 (mín gōng) — migrant worker (rural-to-urban manual laborer, esp. in construction and manufacturing); peasant worker; casual laborer on public projects

Definition

A rural resident who leaves the countryside to do manual labor in the city, especially in construction and manufacturing. The term has a strong socioeconomic framing tied to China's rural-to-urban migration era.

noun
migrant worker (rural-to-urban manual laborer, esp. in construction and manufacturing)peasant workercasual laborer on public projects
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 民工，。
    Xǔ duō mín gōng cóng nóng cūn lái chéng shì dǎ gōng, jiàn shè gāo lóu dà shà.
    Many migrant workers come from the countryside to the city to work and build skyscrapers.
  • 民工，。
    Gōng dì shàng de mín gōng měi tiān gōng zuò shí gè xiǎo shí, fēi cháng xīn kǔ.
    The migrant workers on the construction site work ten hours a day — it's very hard.
  • ，民工。
    Chūn jié qián, chéng qiān shàng wàn de mín gōng tà shàng fǎn xiāng de liè chē.
    Before the Spring Festival, tens of thousands of migrant workers board trains heading home.

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.

民míncivilian
工gōngworker

The sense of 民 and 工 names a civilian worker.

Characters in this word

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

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

Open 民 →

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →
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