玉树 (Yù shù) — Yushu (city in Qinghai, Tibet); (literary) a person of exceptional talent and handsome appearance

Definition

Two distinct uses: as a place name, Yushu is a city/prefecture in Qinghai; as a literary idiom, it praises a young person of outstanding talent and fine bearing. Pronounced Yù shù for both.

idiom
Yushu (city in Qinghai, Tibet)(literary) a person of exceptional talent and handsome appearance

Examples

  • 玉树。
    Yù shù Shì qīng hǎi shěng de yí gè měi lì chéng shì.
    Yushu is a beautiful city in Qinghai Province.
  • 玉树，。
    Tā zhēn kě wèi Yù shù lín fēng, cái huá chū zhòng.
    He can truly be described as elegant and outstandingly talented.
  • 玉树。
    Yù shù Dì qū de zàng zú wén huà fēi cháng fēng fù.
    The Tibetan culture in the Yushu region is very rich.

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.

玉yùjade
树shùtree

The 玉 image of jade and 树 tree suggest a precious upright tree, later a talented person.

Characters in this word

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

玉 was drawn as a ritual jade piece, or as jade pieces strung together, and was made distinct from 王 by adding a dot.

Open 玉 →

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 樹; 树 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
尌
尌shù樹shù
Same sound today

Originally 尌, 'to plant a tree', was written alone; the traditional form 樹 adds 木, 'tree', to it to differentiate.

Open 树 →

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