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古籍 (gǔ jí) — ancient texts; antique books

Definition

古籍 means old or pre-modern books and manuscripts valued as cultural heritage. Unlike 书籍, which means books in general, 古籍 specifically refers to antique or ancient texts.

noun
ancient textsantique books
Measure word · 本

Examples

  • 古籍。
    Tā huā le shí nián shí jiān zhěng lǐ zhè pī gǔ jí.
    He spent ten years organizing this batch of ancient texts.
  • 古籍，。
    Zhè bù gǔ jí shì míng dài de shǒu chāo běn, fēi cháng zhēn guì.
    This ancient text is a Ming dynasty manuscript copy, very precious.
  • 古籍。
    gǔ jí Xiū fù gōng zuò xū yào nài xīn hé zhuān yè zhī shi.
    The restoration of ancient texts requires patience and professional knowledge.

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.

古gǔancient
籍jíbooks

古 (ancient) and 籍 (books) together mean old texts.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

One reading of 古 sees a shield-like shape above an open mark, showing strength and firmness. Another sees a person spitting out bad-tasting food.

Open 古 →

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
𥫗Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
耤
耤jí籍jí
Same sound today

籍 pairs 𥫗 (bamboo, written as 竹) with 耤 for the sound. The bamboo part is for bamboo census books.

Open 籍 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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