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正传 (zhèng zhuàn) — official biography; formal account of a person's life; true story (often used in titles)

Definition

Literary/biographical term meaning 'true story' or 'official biography' — almost always appears in book titles (e.g. 《阿Q正传》). Not used for everyday talk about someone's life.

noun
official biographyformal account of a person's lifetrue story (often used in titles)

Examples

  • 《Q正传》。
    Lǔ xùn de 《ā Q zhèng zhuàn》 shì zhōng guó xiàn dài wén xué de jīng diǎn.
    Lu Xun's 'The True Story of Ah Q' is a classic of modern Chinese literature.
  • 正传。
    Zhè bù zhèng zhuàn xiáng xì jì lù le zhè wèi lì shǐ rén wù de yì shēng.
    This official biography records the life of this historical figure in detail.
  • ，正传。
    Tā xiě de bú shì xiǎo shuō, ér shì yí bù zhèng zhuàn.
    What he wrote is not a novel but an official biography.

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zhèngformal/main
传chuánbiography

The 正 part marks the account as formal or true, and 传 marks a biographical record.

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 傳; 传 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān傳chuán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 傳 puts 人 (man) beside 專, which gives the sound; the simplified 传 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 传 →
Appears in
Literature & Poetry

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