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血债 (xuè zhài) — blood debt (a debt of blood, referring to killings or atrocities that demand retribution)

Definition

A 'blood debt' — killings or atrocities that morally demand retribution. It refers to the wrong itself and the obligation to avenge or make amends, not a financial debt.

noun
blood debt (a debt of blood, referring to killings or atrocities that demand retribution)

Examples

  • 血债。
    Tā fā shì yào tǎo huí zhè bǐ xuè zhài.
    He swore to collect this blood debt.
  • 血债。
    Lì shǐ shàng liú xià le tài duō de xuè zhài.
    History has left too many blood debts.
  • 血债。
    Liǎng guó zhī jiān de xuè zhài xū yào hé jiě.
    The blood debt between the two countries needs reconciliation.

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.

血xuèblood
债zhàidebt

血 describes the nature of the 债, a debt measured in blood.

Characters in this word

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

  • 一一yīdrop of blood
  • 皿皿mǐncontainer

The shape shows 一, a drop of blood, inside 皿, a container, for blood held in a sacrificial vessel.

Open 血 →

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 債; 债 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
責
責zé債zhài
Same sound today

The traditional form 債 combines 亻 (person) with 責 as a sound part; the simplified 债 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 债 →
Appears in
Crime & PoliceMilitary & Defense

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