西宫 (xī gōng) — Western Palace (residence of imperial concubines); imperial concubine (by metonymy)

Definition

Literally 'Western Palace' — in an imperial harem, the residence on the west side. By extension, it metonymically refers to the concubine(s) who lived there.

noun
Western Palace (residence of imperial concubines)imperial concubine (by metonymy)

Examples

  • ，西宫。
    Zài gǔ dài, xī gōng shì huáng dì fēi zi jū zhù de dì fāng.
    In ancient times, the Western Palace was where the emperor's concubines lived.
  • 西宫。
    Tā xiě le yì běn guān yú xī gōng de lì shǐ xiǎo shuō.
    He wrote a historical novel about the Western Palace.
  • 西宫。
    Zhè wèi xī gōng zài hòu gōng zhōng hěn yǒu quán shì.
    This imperial concubine was very powerful in the harem.

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.

西xīwest
宫gōngpalace

西 means west, and 宫 means palace, so 西宫 names the western palace of a concubine.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 西 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 宮; 宫 is its simplified writing.

  • 宀宀mián
  • 呂呂lǚ

The traditional form 宮 is built from 宀 and 呂.

Open 宫 →

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