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劳改 (láo gǎi) — reform through labor (a penal sentence involving forced labor and re-education)

Definition

Short for 劳动改造, the PRC penal system of forced labor combined with political re-education, used from the 1950s until it was abolished in the 1990s. Refers to both the sentence itself and the system as a whole.

noun
reform through labor (a penal sentence involving forced labor and re-education)

Examples

  • 劳改。
    Tā yīn wèi dào qiè bèi pàn chǔ wǔ nián láo gǎi.
    He was sentenced to five years of reform through labor for theft.
  • 劳改2090。
    láo gǎi Zhì dù zài 20 shì jì 90 nián dài hòu bèi zhú bù fèi chú.
    The reform-through-labor system was gradually abolished after the 1990s.
  • ，劳改。
    Xíng mǎn shì fàng hòu, tā zài yě bú yuàn tí qǐ nà jǐ nián de láo gǎi jīng lì.
    After his release, he never again wanted to mention those years of reform-through-labor experience.

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.

劳láolabor
改gǎireform

劳 means 'labor' and 改 means 'reform', giving the sense of reform through labor.

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 勞; 劳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lì
Sound part声符shēngfú
𬡤
𬡤𬡤勞láo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 勞 uses 力 for the meaning and 𬡤 for the sound; the simplified 劳 is a later shortened shape.

Open 劳 →

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
攴攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
巳
巳sì改gǎi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early form of 改 paired 巳 as a sound part with 攴 as a meaning part; the sound part later changed.

Open 改 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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