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正义 (zhèng yì) — justice, righteousness; just, righteous

Definition

正义 means 'justice' or 'righteousness' as an ideal or moral quality — a virtue people pursue, unlike 公平 and 公正, which describe impartial treatment of people or situations.

justicerighteousnessjustrighteous

Examples

  • 正义。
    Tā wèi zhuī qiú zhèng yì ér fèn dòu.
    He fights for the pursuit of justice.
  • 正义。
    Wǒ men dōu xiǎng zuò zhèng yì de rén.
    We all want to be righteous people.
  • 正义。
    Fǎ lǜ bì xū wéi hù zhèng yì.
    The law must uphold justice.

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.

正zhèngright
义yìrighteousness

正 (right) and 义 (righteousness) combine to mean justice.

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
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng正zhèng
Same sound today

正 pairs 止 with 丁; 止 marks the sense and 丁 gives the sound.

Open 正 →

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 義; 义 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
羊羊yáng
Sound part声符shēngfú
我
我wǒ義yì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 義 has 我 giving the sound and 羊 meaning good or auspicious; the simplified 义 is a later abbreviation.

Open 义 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract ConceptsLaw & Justice3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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