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升天 (shēng tiān) — (euphemism) to pass away, to die; (Christianity) the Ascension

Definition

升天 (shēng tiān) is a euphemistic verb for 'to pass away' — softer and more literary than everyday 死. It also names the Christian event of Jesus' Ascension after the resurrection.

verb
(euphemism) to pass awayto die(Christianity) the Ascension

Examples

  • 升天。
    Lǎo rén ān xiáng dì shēng tiān le.
    The old man passed away peacefully.
  • ，升天。
    Jī dū jiào xìn yǎng zhōng, yē sū zài fù huó hòu shēng tiān.
    In Christian belief, Jesus ascended after his resurrection.
  • ，。
    Tīng cūn lǐ rén shuō, tā qù nián jiù shēng le tiān.
    According to the villagers, he passed away last year.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

升shēngrise
天tiānheaven

升 suggests rising and 天 heaven, so the phrase pictures departing to heaven, hence 'die' or the Christian Ascension.

Characters in this word

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

The shape comes from a drawing of a standard dipper used to measure one 升.

Open 升 →

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dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →
Appears in
Religion & Belief

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