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公正 (gōng zhèng) — just; fair; equitable

Definition

Used mainly for people's actions and judgments being fair and without bias. Stronger and more formal than 公平, and focuses on the actor's uprightness rather than the abstract principle of 正义.

adjective
justfairequitable
Easily confused

Examples

  • 公正。
    Fǎ guān zuò chū le yí gè gōng zhèng de pàn jué.
    The judge made a fair judgment.
  • 公正。
    Dà jiā dōu rèn wéi zhè jiàn shì chǔ lǐ dé hěn gōng zhèng.
    Everyone thinks this matter was handled very fairly.
  • 公正。
    Wǒ men yīng dāng gōng zhèng dì duì dài měi yí gè rén.
    We should treat everyone fairly.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

公gōngfair
正zhèngupright

公 carries a sense of fairness and 正 means upright, so together they express justness.

Characters in this word

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

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
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng正zhèng
Same sound today

正 pairs 止 with 丁; 止 marks the sense and 丁 gives the sound.

Open 正 →
Appears in
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