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法制 (fǎ zhì) — legal system and institutions

Definition

法制 refers to an established legal system — the laws and institutions of a country as a whole. Unlike 法律 (individual laws or 'the law' as a field) or 法治 (the principle of rule of law), it emphasizes the system itself.

noun
legal system and institutions
Easily confused

Examples

  • 法制。
    Tuī jìn fǎ zhì jiàn shè shì guó jiā fā zhǎn de zhòng yào rèn wu.
    Promoting the construction of the legal system is an important task for national development.
  • 法制。
    fǎ zhì Jiào yù duì tí gāo gōng mín de fǎ lǜ yì shí hěn yǒu bāng zhù.
    Legal system education is very helpful for raising citizens' legal awareness.
  • 法制。
    Liáng hǎo de fǎ zhì néng gòu bǎo zhàng shè huì de gōng píng zhèng yì.
    A good legal system can safeguard social fairness and 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.

法fǎlaw
制zhìsystem

法 means law, and 制 means system or institution; together they refer to the system of laws and legal institutions.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
廌廌zhìa type of antelope or caprid
Sound part声符shēngfú
盍
盍hé法fǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

法's older form combined 氵 (water) and 廌 (a type of antelope or caprid), with 盍 as a sound part; later 廌 was dropped.

Open 法 →

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

The form 制 pairs 朱 (tree) with 刀 (knife), showing the act of cutting a tree.

Open 制 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Law & Justice

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