TongTong
Sign in

玄机 (xuán jī) — (in Daoism and Buddhism) profound theory; mysterious principles; (figurative) hidden secret; key to understanding something

Definition

Literally 'mysterious mechanism' — in Daoist/Buddhist texts it means profound theory, but in everyday use it usually means the hidden secret or trick behind something. Often used in phrases like 玄机在于… ('the key lies in…').

noun
(in Daoism and Buddhism) profound theorymysterious principles(figurative) hidden secretkey to understanding something

Examples

  • 玄机，。
    Dào jiā xuán jī, shēn bù kě cè.
    The mysterious principles of Daoism are unfathomable.
  • 玄机。
    Tā kàn tòu le qí zhōng de xuán jī.
    He saw through the hidden secret in it.
  • 玄机。
    Zhè ge mí yǔ de xuán jī zài yú zuì hòu yí gè zì.
    The key to this riddle lies in the last character.

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.

玄xuánmysterious
机jīmechanism

玄 (mysterious) and 机 (mechanism) combine into a hidden key or profound principle.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The shape of 玄 represents a rope made of twisted strands, with a mark above it.

Open 玄 →

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
木木mùtree; wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
几
几jǐ机jī
Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

Open 机 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Abstract ConceptsReligion & Belief

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.