秦朝 (Qín cháo) — Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Definition

The Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), China's first unified imperial dynasty. Despite lasting only about 15 years, it standardized writing, currency, and weights and measures, and gave its name to 'China' in many languages.

noun
Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Examples

  • 秦朝。
    Qín cháo Shì zhōng guó lì shǐ shàng dì yī gè tǒng yī de fēng jiàn wáng cháo.
    The Qin dynasty was the first unified feudal dynasty in Chinese history.
  • 秦朝221206。
    Qín cháo Cóng gōng yuán qián 221 nián chí xù dào gōng yuán qián 206 nián.
    The Qin dynasty lasted from 221 BC to 206 BC.
  • 秦朝,。
    Qín cháo Suī rán shí jiān hěn duǎn, dàn duì hòu shì yǐng xiǎng hěn dà.
    Although the Qin dynasty was short-lived, it had a great influence on later generations.

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.

朝cháodynasty

秦 names the dynasty, and 朝 is the general word for dynasty.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 舂舂chōngto pound grain
  • 禾禾hégrain

An early 秦 showed a pestle and two hands over grain; in the modern 秦, those upper parts fused into the top, leaving 禾 below.

Open 秦 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

Originally, 朝 showed the sun rising above the ground while the moon was still in the sky, giving the sense of morning.

Open 朝 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.