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取经 (qǔ jīng) — to go on a quest for scriptures (referring to Xuanzang's journey); (figurative) to learn from someone else's experience or best practices

Definition

Literally 'go fetch the scriptures' — refers to the Journey to the West, now used figuratively for going somewhere to learn from others' experience or best practices.

verb
to go on a quest for scriptures (referring to Xuanzang's journey)(figurative) to learn from someone else's experience or best practices

Examples

  • 取经。
    Táng sēng shī tú sì rén qù xī tiān qǔ jīng de gù shi jiā yù hù xiǎo.
    The story of Tang Seng and his three disciples journeying to the West to obtain the scriptures is known in every household.
  • 取经，。
    Wǒ men gōng sī pài rén qù rì běn qǔ jīng, xué xí tā men de guǎn lǐ jīng yàn.
    Our company sent people to Japan to learn from their management experience.
  • ，。
    Tā qù huá wéi qǔ guò jǐ cì jīng, huí lái hòu jiù gǎi jìn le liú chéng.
    He went to Huawei several times to learn from them, and after returning he improved the workflow.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

取qǔtake
经jīngscriptures

取 “take” and 经 “scriptures” combine as “take scriptures,” originally fetching Buddhist texts.

Characters in this word

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

取 pairs 又 (hand) with 耳 (ear), showing a hand taking an ear, as in taking the ear of fallen prey.

Open 取 →

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 經; 经 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mìsilk; thread
Sound part声符shēngfú
巠
巠jīng經jīng
Same sound today

The traditional form 經 combines 糹 (silk; thread) with 巠, which gives the sound.

Open 经 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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