太阳宫 (tài yáng gōng) — (proper noun) Taiyanggong (place name in Beijing, e.g., the Temple of the Sun or the surrounding district)

Definition

A Beijing place name: the historic Temple of the Sun and the surrounding district in Chaoyang. Learners will most often see it as a subway stop on Line 10.

noun
(proper noun) Taiyanggong (place name in Beijing, e.g., the Temple of the Sun or the surrounding district)

Examples

  • 太阳宫，。
    Wǒ míng tiān xiǎng qù tài yáng gōng kàn kàn, tīng shuō nà lǐ de jiàn zhù hěn yǒu lì shǐ.
    I want to go see Taiyanggong tomorrow — I hear the architecture there is very historical.
  • 太阳宫。
    Zuò dì tiě shí hào xiàn kě yǐ zhí jiē dào tài yáng gōng zhàn.
    You can take Metro Line 10 directly to Taiyanggong Station.
  • 太阳宫。
    tài yáng gōng Fù jìn yǒu hěn duō hǎo chī de cān guǎn.
    There are many good restaurants near Taiyanggong.

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.

太阳sun
太tàigreat阳yángsun
偏正Modifier + head
宫gōngpalace

太阳 gives sun, 宫 gives palace or temple, naming a sun temple or district.

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.

太 is a modified form of 大, with an extra dot added to show 'too big'.

Open 太 →

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 陽; 阳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fùhill
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng陽yáng
Same sound today

In the traditional form 陽, 阜 shows a hill and 昜 is the older character for the word, tied to sunshine and the sound; simplified 阳 is a later shorthand.

Open 阳 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 宮; 宫 is its simplified writing.

  • 宀宀mián
  • 呂呂lǚ

The traditional form 宮 is built from 宀 and 呂.

Open 宫 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.