手工艺 (shǒu gōng yì) — handicraft, handicraft art

Definition

noun

handicrafthandicraft art

Measure word · 种

手工艺。
Tā hěn xǐ huan xué xí chuán tǒng shǒu gōng yì.
She really enjoys learning traditional handicrafts.
手工艺。
Zhè ge zhǎn lǎn zhǎn shì le gè zhǒng shǒu gōng yì zuò pǐn.
This exhibition displays various handicraft works.
手工艺，。
shǒu gōng yì Bù jǐn shì jì shù, gèng shì yì zhǒng yì shù.
Handicraft is not only a skill but also an art.

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.

手工handwork

偏正Modifier + head

“手” and “工” give handwork, and “艺” names craft, together meaning handicraft art.

Characters in this word

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

艹乙艺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎo

Sound part声符shēngfú

乙

Same sound today

In 艺, the top 艹 points to plants, and the lower 乙 gives the sound.