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理学 (lǐ xué) — (historical) the School of Principle in Neo-Confucian philosophy; natural science (especially in degree names)

Definition

理学 has two unrelated senses: (1) the Neo-Confucian 'School of Principle' (理学) in Song-Ming philosophy, and (2) 'natural science' as in degree names like 理学博士. Same word, different fields — context tells you which.

noun
(historical) the School of Principle in Neo-Confucian philosophynatural science (especially in degree names)

Examples

  • 。
    Sòng míng lǐ xué duì zhōng guó wén huà yǐng xiǎng hěn dà.
    Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism had a great influence on Chinese culture.
  • 理学。
    Tā huò dé le lǐ xué bó shì xué wèi.
    He obtained a Doctor of Science degree.
  • 理学、。
    lǐ xué Bāo kuò wù lǐ, huà xué děng xué kē.
    Natural science includes physics, chemistry, and other subjects.

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.

理lǐprinciple
学xuéstudy

The “理” refers to principle and “学” to study, together denoting the study of principle.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ理lǐ
Same sound today

理 pairs 玉 (jade) with 里, which shows how to say it; the jade part points to the old sense of polishing jade.

Open 理 →

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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Open 学 →
Appears in
Chinese Culture & CustomsScience (General)

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