玄学 (xuán xué) — (historical) the Neo-Daoist philosophical school of the 3rd–4th centuries; (modern, often derogatory) mysticism, superstition, pseudoscientific belief; (philosophy) metaphysics (general term)

Definition

A word with two lives: the 3rd–4th century Neo-Daoist philosophy school (historical sense), and in modern use, a derogatory label for mysticism, superstition, or pseudoscience — not a neutral word.

noun
(historical) the Neo-Daoist philosophical school of the 3rd–4th centuries(modern, often derogatory) mysticismsuperstitionpseudoscientific belief(philosophy) metaphysics (general term)

Examples

  • 玄学。
    Wèi jìn shí qī de xuán xué duì hòu shì zhé xué yǐng xiǎng hěn dà.
    The Neo-Daoism of the Wei-Jin period greatly influenced later philosophy.
  • 玄学，。
    Tā shuō de nà xiē xuán xué, gēn běn jiù shì mí xìn.
    That mysticism he talks about is nothing but superstition.
  • 玄学，。
    Bú yào zhěng tiān gǎo zhè xiē xuán xué, duō xué diǎn kē xué zhī shi ba.
    Don't dabble in that mysticism all day; learn some scientific knowledge instead.

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.

玄xuánmysterious
学xuéstudy

玄 gives 'mysterious' and 学 'study', so 玄学 names a doctrine of mysteries.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The shape of 玄 represents a rope made of twisted strands, with a mark above it.

Open 玄 →

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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Open 学 →

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