朝政 (cháo zhèng) — imperial court politics and administration

Definition

朝政 refers to the day-to-day governance and political affairs of the imperial court — what the emperor and ministers actually administer, not the regime or dynasty itself.

noun
imperial court politics and administration

Examples

  • ，朝政，。
    Tā dāng le huáng dì zhī hòu, bù lǐ cháo zhèng, guó jiā hěn kuài jiù luàn le.
    After he became emperor, he neglected court affairs, and the country quickly fell into chaos.
  • 朝政，。
    Táng cháo de cháo zhèng xiāng duì wěn dìng, jīng jì yě hěn fán róng.
    The court administration of the Tang dynasty was relatively stable, and the economy was also prosperous.
  • 朝政。
    Zhè wèi dà chén duō cì jiàn yì huáng dì gǎi gé cháo zhèng.
    This minister repeatedly advised the emperor to reform the court administration.

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.

朝cháocourt
政zhèngpolitics

court and politics combine to mean the administration of the imperial court.

Characters in this word

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

Originally, 朝 showed the sun rising above the ground while the moon was still in the sky, giving the sense of morning.

Open 朝 →

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
攴攴pūaction
Sound part声符shēngfú
正
正zhèng政zhèng
Same sound today

政 combines 正, which gives the sound, with 攴, an action-related part.

Open 政 →

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