火焰山 (huǒ yàn shān) — (place name) Mountain of Flames (a red-hot mountain range in Turpan, Xinjiang); (literary) the fiery mountain in Journey to the West that the pilgrims could not cross; (figurative) an insurmountable obstacle or extremely difficult situation

Definition

Proper name for the real 'Mountain of Flames' near Turpan, Xinjiang; in literature (Journey to the West) it also names the fiery obstacle Sun Wukong had to cross, and is used figuratively for an impassable barrier.

noun
(place name) Mountain of Flames (a red-hot mountain range in Turpan, Xinjiang)(literary) the fiery mountain in Journey to the West that the pilgrims could not cross(figurative) an insurmountable obstacle or extremely difficult situation

Examples

  • 《》，火焰山。
    《Xī yóu jì》 lǐ, sūn wù kōng jiè le bā jiāo shàn cái guò le huǒ yàn shān.
    In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong only got past the Mountain of Flames after borrowing the palm-leaf fan.
  • ，火焰山。
    Duì tā lái shuō, zhè cì kǎo shì jiù xiàng huǒ yàn shān yí yàng nán guò.
    For him, this exam is as hard to pass as the Mountain of Flames.
  • 火焰山。
    Tǔ lǔ fān de huǒ yàn shān xià tiān wēn dù gāo dá qī shí dù.
    The temperature at Turpan's Mountain of Flames can reach seventy degrees Celsius in summer.

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.

火焰flame
火huǒfire焰yànflame
联合Side by side
山shānmountain

火 fire and 焰 flame combine into flames, naming a 山 mountain.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
臽
臽xiàn焰
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

焰 combines 火, meaning fire, with 臽, which provides the sound.

Open 焰 →

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

山 shows three mountain peaks side by side.

Open 山 →

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