猴王 (hóu wáng) — Monkey King (Sun Wukong, the main character in…

Definition

Literally 'Monkey King' — almost always refers to Sun Wukong, the hero of 《西游记》. In context it can also mean the dominant male in a troop of monkeys.

noun

Monkey King (Sun Wukong, the main character in Journey to the West)

Measure word · 个

猴王。
Wǒ zuì xǐ huan de jué sè shì hóu wáng.
My favorite character is the Monkey King.
《》猴王。
Tā zhèng zài dú 《xī yóu jì》 zhōng hóu wáng de gù shi.
He is reading the story of the Monkey King in Journey to the West.
猴王。
hóu wáng De qī shí èr biàn fēi cháng lì hài.
The Monkey King's seventy-two transformations are very powerful.

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.

“猴” identifies the kind of being ruled, and “王” adds the sense of ruler or king.

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.

犭侯猴

Meaning part形符xíngfú

犭Written in full as犬quǎn

Sound part声符shēngfú

侯

侯hóu猴hóu(r)

Same sound today

猴 pairs 犭, the animal part, with 侯, which gives the sound.

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

The shape of 王 comes from a picture of a ritual axe, an object kept near a throne and connected with royal power.

Appears in