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爱河 (Aì hé) — (Buddhist) the river of love/desire, a metaphor for worldly attachment that leads to suffering; (figurative) love; romantic relationship (used in phrases like 坠入爱河 'fall in love')

Definition

A poetic metaphor for romantic love, literally 'the river of love.' Comes from Buddhism, where it represents attachment that causes suffering; today used mainly in the set phrase 坠入爱河 ('fall in love').

noun
(Buddhist) the river of love/desire, a metaphor for worldly attachment that leads to suffering(figurative) loveromantic relationship (used in phrases like 坠入爱河 'fall in love')

Examples

  • 爱河。
    Tā men xiāng shí bù jiǔ jiù zhuì rù le Aì hé.
    They fell into the river of love shortly after meeting each other.
  • ，爱河。
    Fó jiā rèn wéi, Aì hé shì zhòng shēng tòng kǔ de yuán yīn zhī yī.
    Buddhists believe that the river of love is one of the causes of sentient beings' suffering.
  • 爱河，。
    Tā chén jìn zài Aì hé zhōng, duì zhōu wéi de yí qiè dōu bú zài hu le.
    He was immersed in the river of love, no longer caring about anything around him.

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.

爱àilove
河hériver

爱 (love) specifies 河 (river), creating the image of a river of love or desire.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 愛; 爱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
旡
旡jì愛ài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 愛, an older shape paired 心 (heart) with 旡 as its sound part; later a foot-like 夊 was added below. The simplified 爱 is a later variant that replaces the lower part with 友.

Open 爱 →

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
何
何hé河hé
Same sound today

河 pairs 水 (water) with 何, which gives the sound. The 水 part marks it as a word for a river.

Open 河 →
Appears in
Religion & Belief

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