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江山 (jiāng shān) — rivers and mountains (natural landscape); territory, domain (especially of a country)

Definition

Literary 'rivers and mountains' — in classical/modern writing it means the land or nation as a whole, not scenery itself. Compare 风景/景色 (a view one looks at) and 领土 (a state's territory); 江山 carries the political-emotional weight of "the realm."

noun
rivers and mountains (natural landscape)territorydomain (especially of a country)

Examples

  • 江山。
    Zhè lǐ de jiāng shān měi dé xiàng yì fú huà.
    The landscape here is as beautiful as a painting.
  • 江山，。
    Zǔ bèi men yòng shēng mìng dǎ xià lái de jiāng shān, wǒ men yào hǎo hǎo shǒu hù.
    The territory our ancestors fought for with their lives, we must guard carefully.
  • 江山。
    Lì shǐ shàng duō shǎo yīng xióng wèi jiāng shān ér zhàn.
    Throughout history, how many heroes have fought for the nation.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

江jiāngriver
山shānmountain

江 and 山 list rivers and mountains, which can stand for a realm.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng江jiāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

江 puts 氵, the water side, beside 工, which gives a sound; the water part points to its river meaning.

Open 江 →

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

山 shows three mountain peaks side by side.

Open 山 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Geography & LandformsGovernment & Politics

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