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传奇 (chuán qí) — (noun) legend, legendary story; a tale of extraordinary events; (noun) legendary status; someone or something that has become legendary; (noun) a genre of Tang-Song dynasty short stories (唐传奇, 宋传奇)

Definition

传奇 means 'legend' in the sense of an extraordinary story or person (e.g. 活传奇, a living legend) — more concrete and individual than the folk-tale flavor of 传说 or the supernatural 神话.

noun
legendlegendary storya tale of extraordinary eventslegendary statussomeone or something that has become legendarya genre of Tang-Song dynasty short stories (唐传奇, 宋传奇)

Examples

  • 传奇。
    Tā de gù shi jiù shì yí gè xiàn dài chuán qí.
    His story is a modern legend.
  • 传奇。
    Jīn yōng de xiǎo shuō chuàng zào le xǔ duō wǔ xiá chuán qí.
    Jin Yong's novels created many martial arts legends.
  • 传奇。
    Zhè wèi lǎo jiàng jūn shì jūn zhōng de huó chuán qí.
    This old general is a living legend in the military.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

传chuánrecord/transmit
奇qístrange

To 传 what is 奇 gives the sense of a legendary tale.

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 傳; 传 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān傳chuán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 傳 puts 人 (man) beside 專, which gives the sound; the simplified 传 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 传 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
大大dàbig; great
Sound part声符shēngfú
可
可kě奇
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

奇 pairs 大 (big; great) with 可, a sound part.

Open 奇 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Mythology & Folklore5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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