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春梦 (chūn mèng) — (literary) spring dream (literal); (figurative) transient joy; fleeting romantic experience

Definition

A literary metaphor for something beautiful that vanishes quickly — typically youth, love, or a happy moment. Rooted in the classical line '一场春梦' ('a spring dream'), used more in writing than everyday speech.

noun
(literary) spring dream (literal)(figurative) transient joyfleeting romantic experience

Examples

  • 春梦，。
    Wǎng shì rú chūn mèng, zhuǎn shùn jí shì.
    Past events are like a spring dream — gone in an instant.
  • 春梦。
    Tā gǎn tàn qīng chūn bú guò shì yì cháng chūn mèng.
    He sighed that youth is nothing but a fleeting dream.
  • 春梦。
    Zhè shǒu shī yòng chūn mèng bǐ yù ài qíng de duǎn zàn.
    This poem uses 'spring dream' as a metaphor for the brevity of love.

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.

春chūnspring
梦mèngdream

春 suggests spring and 梦 is a dream, giving a fleeting dream image.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艸艸cǎograss
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
屯
屯tún春chūn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

春 combines 艸 (grass) and 日 (sun) with 屯, which supplies the sound and is described as a swollen sprout.

Open 春 →

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 夢; 梦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
夕夕xī
Sound part声符shēngfú
瞢
瞢méng夢mèng
Same sound today

The traditional form 夢 pairs 夕 (night) with 瞢, which gives the sound; its older form showed a person lying with an eye emphasized.

Open 梦 →
Appears in
Romance & Marriage

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