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丛林 (cóng lín) — jungle, thicket, dense forest; (Buddhist) monastery, especially a Chan/Zen temple

Definition

丛林 means 'jungle' — a dense, wild tropical forest, denser and more remote than 森林 (ordinary forest) or 树林 (small woods). It also means a Chan/Zen Buddhist monastery, more specific than 寺庙 (any Buddhist or Taoist temple).

noun
junglethicketdense forest(Buddhist) monasteryespecially a Chan/Zen temple
Measure word · 片

Examples

  • 丛林，。
    Tàn xiǎn duì shēn rù cóng lín, xún zhǎo shī luò de wén míng.
    The expedition team ventured deep into the jungle to find a lost civilization.
  • 丛林，。
    Zhè zuò cóng lín jiàn yú táng dài, shì zhù míng de chán zōng sì yuàn.
    This monastery was built in the Tang dynasty and is a famous Chan Buddhist temple.
  • 丛林。
    Rè dài cóng lín zhōng shēng huó zhe xǔ duō zhēn xī dòng wù.
    Many rare animals live in the tropical jungle.

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.

丛cóngdense
林línforest

丛 and 林 combine as dense plus forest, meaning jungle.

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 叢; 丛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
丵丵zhuó
Sound part声符shēngfú
取
取qǔ叢cóng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 叢 for 丛 combines 丵 with 取, where 取 gives the sound.

Open 丛 →

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

林 is made of two 木 (tree) placed side by side, showing many trees together, hence a forest.

Open 林 →
Appears in
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