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报应 (bào yìng) — retribution (often karmic), just deserts

Definition

报应 (bàoyìng) names the punishment that comes back to a wrongdoer — typically framed as karmic ('you get what you deserve') rather than a human court's sentence.

noun
retribution (often karmic)just deserts

Examples

  • ，报应。
    Tā zuò le nà me duō huài shì, zhōng yú zāo dào bào yìng le.
    He did so many bad things and finally got his just deserts.
  • 报应，，。
    Hěn duō rén xiāng xìn bào yìng, rèn wéi shàn yǒu shàn bào, è yǒu è bào.
    Many people believe in karmic retribution, thinking that good deeds bring good results and bad deeds bring bad results.
  • 报应，。
    Zhè zhǒng bào yìng bú shì mí xìn, ér shì yīn guǒ guī lǜ.
    This kind of retribution is not superstition but the law of cause and effect.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

报bàorepay
应yìngrespond

报 means to repay and 应 means to respond, together forming retribution.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 報; 报 is its simplified writing.

  • 㚔㚔㚔handcuffs
  • 𠬝𠬝𠬝to subdue

The traditional form 報 puts 㚔 (handcuffs) beside 𠬝 (to subdue), showing someone restrained and subdued, as in convicting or punishing a guilty person. The simplified 报 is a later shorthand.

Open 报 →

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 應; 应 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
䧹
䧹䧹應yìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 應 pairs 心 (heart) with 䧹 as a sound part; the simplified 应 is a later shorthand and its parts are not the original components.

Open 应 →
Appears in
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