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光景 (guāng jǐng) — scene, view, sight; circumstances, conditions, situation; time, period, duration

Definition

光景 covers two related senses: a 'scene/view' (like 风景) and, more commonly at this level, the 'circumstances or times' someone is living through. Often used with 好/坏 to mean "good times" or "hard times."

noun
sceneviewsightcircumstancesconditionssituationtimeperiodduration

Examples

  • 。
    Zhè lǐ de zì rán guāng jǐng fēi cháng měi lì.
    The natural scenery here is very beautiful.
  • 光景。
    Zhè jǐ nián dà jiā de shēng huó guāng jǐng hǎo le hěn duō.
    In recent years, everyone's living conditions have improved a lot.
  • 光景，。
    Hǎo guāng jǐng bù cháng, gōng sī hěn kuài jiù yù dào le kùn nan.
    The good times didn't last long; the company soon encountered difficulties.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

光guāngappearance
景jǐngscene

光 and 景 both evoke appearance, so together they name a scene or situation.

Characters in this word

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

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.

Open 光 →

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
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
京
京jīng景jǐng
Same sound today

景 has 日 (sun) with 京, which gives its sound; it originally meant sunlight.

Open 景 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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