火墙 (huǒ qiáng) — a heated wall with internal flues, a traditional Chinese heating system

Definition

Traditional northern Chinese heating wall with internal flues that channel smoke/hot air to warm the room. It's a fixed architectural feature in old-style homes, not a portable heater.

noun
a heated wall with internal flues, a traditional Chinese heating system
Measure word · 道

Examples

  • 火墙，。
    Běi fāng de lǎo fáng zi lǐ cháng cháng yǒu huǒ qiáng, dōng tiān hěn nuǎn huo.
    In northern old houses there are often heated walls, so winter is very warm.
  • 火墙。
    Wǒ men jiā de huǒ qiáng shì qù nián xīn xiū de.
    Our family's heated wall was newly built last year.
  • 火墙。
    Zhè zhǒng huǒ qiáng kě yǐ bǎ rè qì jūn yún dì chuán sòng dào zhěng gè fáng jiān.
    This kind of heated wall can evenly distribute heat throughout the room.

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.

火huǒfire
墙qiángwall

"火" fire and "墙" wall combine to mean a wall used for heating.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Open 火 →

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 牆; 墙 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
嗇嗇sèwheat in a granary
Sound part声符shēngfú
爿
爿pán牆qiáng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 牆, 爿 gives the sound and 嗇, showing wheat in a granary, gives the wall meaning. The simplified 墙 is a later short form.

Open 墙 →

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