从良 (cóng liáng) — (v.o.) to leave prostitution and get married (historical term)

Definition

From the verb-object compound 从+良: a historical/literary term for a prostitute leaving the trade to marry and live a respectable life. Reads as a fixed, bookish phrase, not a neutral modern expression.

verb
(v.o.) to leave prostitution and get married (historical term)

Examples

  • ，从良。
    Tā céng shì jì nǚ, dàn hòu lái cóng liáng le.
    She used to be a prostitute, but later she left that life and got married.
  • 从良，。
    Tā nián qīng shí jiù cóng liáng le, guò shàng le ān dìng de shēng huó.
    When she was young, she left prostitution and married, and then lived a stable life.
  • ，。
    Tā zài èr shí suì shí cóng le liáng, jià gěi le yí wèi shāng rén.
    At age 20, she left prostitution and married a businessman.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

从cóngfollow
良liánggood

从 means to follow and 良 a good life or honest person, hence leaving prostitution for marriage.

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 從; 从 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
从
从cóng從cóng
Same sound today

The traditional form 從 pairs 辵 (walk) with 从, which gives the sound; the character was originally written 从.

Open 从 →

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

良 possibly depicts corridors and a room.

Open 良 →

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