文化大革命 (Wén huà Dà gé mìng) — Cultural Revolution (the sociopolitical movement in China, 1966–1976)

Definition

The full Chinese name of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), often shortened to 文革 in speech and writing. In formal historical or academic contexts, this full form is standard.

noun
Cultural Revolution (the sociopolitical movement in China, 1966–1976)

Examples

  • 文化大革命。
    Wén huà Dà gé mìng Shì zhōng guó lì shǐ shàng yí gè tè shū de shí qī.
    The Cultural Revolution was a special period in Chinese history.
  • 文化大革命。
    Hěn duō guān yú Wén huà Dà gé mìng de shū dōu shì zài hòu lái xiě de.
    Many books about the Cultural Revolution were written later.
  • 文化大革命。
    Tā yé ye jīng lì guò Wén huà Dà gé mìng.
    His grandfather experienced the Cultural Revolution.

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.

文化culture
文wénwriting/culture化huàtransform/culture
联合Side by side
大革命great revolution
大dàgreat革géchange命mìngmandate/life
偏正Modifier + head

文 and 化 convey culture, while 大, 革, and 命 together convey a great revolution.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The current form 文 shows a man with head, arms, legs, and chest; the tattoo marks on the chest are no longer drawn.

Open 文 →

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

化 shows two person figures, one upright and one upside down, to give the idea of reversal or change.

Open 化 →

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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

革 is drawn as a stretched animal hide, with the upper part as the head and the lower part as the tail and legs.

Open 革 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng命mìng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

命 combines 口, a mouth, with 令, which gives the sound.

Open 命 →

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