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全盛 (quán shèng) — at its peak (of a historical era or civilization); flourishing; in full bloom

Definition

Used to describe a civilization, dynasty, or era at the height of its power and prosperity — its 'golden age'. It modifies periods, not individual people or objects.

adjective
at its peak (of a historical era or civilization)flourishingin full bloom

Examples

  • 全盛。
    Táng cháo shì zhōng guó lì shǐ shàng de quán shèng shí qī.
    The Tang Dynasty was the golden age of Chinese history.
  • 全盛。
    Zhè zuò chéng shì zài quán shèng shí qī yǒu shí wàn jū mín.
    At its height, this city had a hundred thousand residents.
  • 全盛。
    Nà ge wén míng zài quán shèng shí qī jiàn zào le hóng wěi de gōng diàn.
    That civilization built magnificent palaces during its heyday.

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.

全quánwhole/fully
盛shèngflourishing

全 means whole or fully, and 盛 means flourishing, so the sense is wholly in full bloom.

Characters in this word

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

The shape puts 入 together with 玉 to show a whole piece of jade, so it means complete or whole.

Open 全 →

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
皿皿mǐn
Sound part声符shēngfú
成
成chéng盛shèng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

盛 combines 成 as a sound part with 皿 as a meaning part; the 皿 side points to a vessel, which fits meanings such as hold and fill.

Open 盛 →
Appears in
Abstract ConceptsHistory

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