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相传 (xiāng chuán) — to pass down (from generation to generation); according to legend; tradition has it that (used to introduce a story or belief)

Definition

相传 emphasizes the hearsay or legendary origin of a story ('tradition has it that…'), often opening a tale. 流传 focuses on how widely something spreads, while 传承 means actively passing down cultural heritage.

verb
to pass down (from generation to generation)according to legendtradition has it that (used to introduce a story or belief)

Examples

  • 相传。
    Zhè ge xí sú yǐ jīng xiāng chuán le jǐ bǎi nián.
    This custom has been passed down for several hundred years.
  • 相传，。
    xiāng chuán, Zhè zuò gǔ qiáo shì yí wèi gōng jiàng yí yè jiàn chéng de.
    According to legend, this ancient bridge was built by a craftsman in one night.
  • 。
    Zhè ge jiā zú shì dài xiāng chuán de mì fāng zhōng yú gōng kāi le.
    The secret recipe that this family has passed down for generations has finally been made public.

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.

相xiāngmutual
传chuánpass on

相 contributes mutual or each other to 传, meaning to pass along from one to another.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”

Open 相 →

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 傳; 传 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān傳chuán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 傳 puts 人 (man) beside 專, which gives the sound; the simplified 传 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 传 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Mythology & Folklore

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