阳关 (Yáng guān) — Sunny Pass (ancient mountain pass in Gansu on the Silk Road); (also) a Tang dynasty farewell poem and song of the same name

Definition

An ancient mountain pass in Gansu on the Silk Road, famous from the Tang farewell poem 《阳关三叠》. The name now mainly evokes parting and departure, not the geography itself.

noun
Sunny Pass (ancient mountain pass in Gansu on the Silk Road)(also) a Tang dynasty farewell poem and song of the same name
Easily confused

Examples

  • 阳关。
    Gǔ dài hěn duō shī rén dōu xiě guò guān yú Yáng guān de shī.
    Many ancient poets wrote poems about Sunny Pass.
  • 《阳关》。
    Tā zuì xǐ huan tīng 《Yáng guān sān dié》 zhè shǒu gǔ qín qǔ.
    He most enjoys listening to the ancient zither piece 'Three Refrains of Sunny Pass'.
  • 阳关，。
    Tā men zhàn zài Yáng guān shàng, wàng zhe yuǎn fāng de shā mò.
    They stood at Sunny Pass, gazing at the distant desert.

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.

阳yángsun
关guānpass

“阳” means sun and “关” means pass, so the name refers to a sunny mountain pass.

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 陽; 阳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fùhill
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng陽yáng
Same sound today

In the traditional form 陽, 阜 shows a hill and 昜 is the older character for the word, tied to sunshine and the sound; simplified 阳 is a later shorthand.

Open 阳 →

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 關; 关 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
門門méndoor
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢇅
𢇅𢇅關guān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 关, the traditional form 關 shows 門 as a door and 𢇅 as two wooden sticks locking it, with ring-like marks on top.

Open 关 →

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