TongTong
Sign in

黑脸 (hēi liǎn) — (noun) a black-faced role in Chinese opera representing an impartial, upright official; (noun) a stern or disapproving expression; someone who plays the strict or adversarial role in a situation

Definition

A Chinese opera term for the black-faced role symbolizing an impartial, upright official. By extension, it means the person who plays the strict, disapproving role in a group or negotiation.

noun
a black-faced role in Chinese opera representing an impartial, upright officiala stern or disapproving expressionsomeone who plays the strict or adversarial role in a situation
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 黑脸，。
    Tā zài xì lǐ yǎn hēi liǎn, dài biǎo gōng zhèng wú sī.
    He plays the black-face role in the opera, representing impartiality and selflessness.
  • 黑脸，。
    Tán pàn shí zǒng xū yào yǒu rén chàng hēi liǎn, dāng nà ge yán lì de jué sè.
    In negotiations someone always needs to play the stern one, taking the strict role.
  • 黑脸，。
    Lǎo bǎn jīn tiān hēi liǎn yì chén, dà jiā dōu bù gǎn shuō huà.
    When the boss's face darkened today, no one dared to speak.

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.

黑hēiblack
脸liǎnface

“黑” describes the color, and “脸” is a face; together they mean a black face or stern look.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 黑 seems to come from drawing a head marked with dots, usually read as facial tattoos.

Open 黑 →

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 臉; 脸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺼Written in full as肉ròubody part
Sound part声符shēngfú
僉
僉qiān臉liǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 臉 combines ⺼ (肉, body part) with 僉 as a sound part; the simplified 脸 is a later abbreviation.

Open 脸 →
Appears in
AppearanceArt & Fine Arts

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