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人生 (rén shēng) — life (one's time on earth)

Definition

人生 is 'life' viewed as a whole journey or story — broader and more philosophical than the everyday 生活 ('daily life / to live'). Closer to 一生 ('a whole lifetime').

noun
life (one's time on earth)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 人生？
    rén shēng Zhōng zuì zhòng yào de dōng xī shì shén me?
    What is the most important thing in life?
  • 人生。
    Měi gè rén de rén shēng dōu bù tóng.
    Everyone's life is different.
  • 人生。
    rén shēng Yǒu hěn duō zhòng yào de jiē duàn.
    Life has many important stages.

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.

人rénhuman
生shēnglife

人 as human combined with 生 as life names a person's life.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →
Appears in
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