庐山 (Lú shān) — Mount Lu (famous mountain in Jiangxi, a scenic and cultural landmark)

Definition

Famous mountain in Jiangxi province, often paired with the idiom 不识庐山真面目 ('can't see Mount Lu's true face'), used to mean failing to see something's real nature.

noun
Mount Lu (famous mountain in Jiangxi, a scenic and cultural landmark)
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 庐山。
    Wǒ men shǔ jià dǎ suàn qù Lú shān lǚ yóu.
    We plan to travel to Mount Lu during summer break.
  • 庐山,。
    Lú shān De fēng jǐng fēi cháng měi, hěn duō shī rén dōu xiě guò guān yú tā de shī.
    The scenery of Mount Lu is very beautiful; many poets have written poems about it.
  • “庐山”,。
    Cháng shuō "bù shí Lú shān zhēn miàn mù", zhè jù huà xiàn zài cháng yòng lái xíng róng kàn bù qīng shì wù de běn zhì.
    As the saying goes, 'You can't see the true face of Mount Lu'; this phrase is now often used to describe not being able to see the essence of something.

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.

庐lúLu
山shānmountain

庐 points to the name Lu and 山 to a mountain, naming Mount Lu.

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 廬; 庐 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎngroofed house
Sound part声符shēngfú
盧
盧lú廬lú
Same sound today

The traditional form 廬 has 广, a roofed house, and 盧, a part giving the sound. The simplified 庐 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical parts.

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

山 shows three mountain peaks side by side.

Open 山 →

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