画中画 (huà zhōng huà) — (art) a picture within a picture; a painting th…

Definition

Literally 'painting within a painting' — used both for an art technique where an image contains a smaller version of itself, and in tech for the picture-in-picture (PiP) display mode where a small video window plays over the main screen.

idiom

(art) a picture within a picturea painting that includes a smaller version of itself(technology) picture-in-picture (PiP, a display mode)

Examples

画中画，。
Zhè fú yóu huà yòng le huà zhōng huà de jì fǎ, fēi cháng jīng cǎi.
This oil painting uses the 'picture within a picture' technique and is very brilliant.
画中画。
Xiàn zài hěn duō shì pín ruǎn jiàn dōu zhī chí huà zhōng huà gōng néng.
Nowadays many video apps support picture-in-picture functionality.
画中画。
Tā yòng huà zhōng huà de fāng fǎ ràng huà miàn gèng yǒu céng cì gǎn.
He used the picture-in-picture method to give the image more depth.

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.

画中in a picture

画huàpicture中zhōngmiddle

偏正Modifier + head

画huàpicture

画 and 中 give the idea of inside a picture, which describes another 画, a smaller picture inside.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 畫; 画 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

聿聿yùbrush

Sound part声符shēngfú

規

規guī畫huà

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 畫 pairs 聿, a brush, with 規 for its sound. The simplified 画 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the old parts.

Open 画 →

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

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Open 中 →