抗争 (kàng zhēng) — to resist; to fight against (injustice, oppress… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

抗争 emphasizes a sustained, effortful struggle, often against oppression or injustice, more committed than a one-off 抗议. Unlike 抵抗 (which centers on withstanding an attack), 抗争 implies actively fighting back to change a situation.

verb

to resistto fight against (injustice, oppression, etc.)

Examples

抗争。
Tā men wèi zì yóu kàng zhēng le duō nián.
They fought for freedom for many years.
，抗争。
Miàn duì bù gōng píng, wǒ men yào yǒng gǎn kàng zhēng.
Faced with injustice, we must bravely resist.
抗争。
Rén mín duì bù gōng píng de zhì dù kàng zhēng.
The people resist the unfair system.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

争zhēngcontend

Resist and contend combine to mean fight against injustice.

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.

扌亢抗

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

亢

亢kàng抗kàng

Same sound today

抗 is made from 扌, a written form of 手 (hand), and 亢, which gives the sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爭; 争 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 爭 shows two hands on a plowshare; the simplified 争 is a later abbreviation, so this picture belongs to 爭, not 争.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Conflict & Agreement

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