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国学 (guó xué) — traditional Chinese scholarship / Chinese classical studies (covering philosophy, history, literature, etc.)

Definition

国学 refers to the scholarly study of China's classical tradition — philosophy, history, literature — as a unified field. It is broader than 文学 (literature alone) and 历史 (history alone); it covers both, plus classical thought.

noun
traditional Chinese scholarship / Chinese classical studies (covering philosophy, history, literature, etc.)

Examples

  • 国学，《》。
    Tā duì guó xué hěn gǎn xìng qù, jīng cháng dú 《lún yǔ》.
    He is very interested in traditional Chinese studies and often reads the Analects.
  • 国学。
    Xiàn zài hěn duō dà xué dōu kāi shè le guó xué kè chéng.
    Now many universities offer courses in traditional Chinese studies.
  • 国学。
    Xué xí guó xué néng bāng zhù wǒ men gèng hǎo dì lǐ jiě zhōng guó wén huà.
    Studying traditional Chinese studies can help us better understand Chinese culture.

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.

国guócountry
学xuéstudies

国 and 学 together mean the studies or learning of a country.

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →

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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Open 学 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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