知县 (zhī xiàn) — (historical) county magistrate (in Ming and Qing dynasties)

Definition

A historical title for the head official of a 县 (county) in imperial China, ranking just below the prefect. In literary or historical texts you may also see the longer form 知县事 for the same office.

noun
(historical) county magistrate (in Ming and Qing dynasties)
Measure word · 位
Easily confused

Examples

  • 知县，。
    Nà wèi zhī xiàn dà rén duàn àn rú shén, bǎi xìng dōu hěn pèi fú tā.
    That county magistrate judged cases like a god, and the people all admired him.
  • 知县。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō lǐ miáo shù le zhī xiàn de shēng huó hé guān chǎng dòu zhēng.
    This novel describes the life and official struggles of a county magistrate.
  • 知县，。
    Gǔ dài zhī xiàn bù jǐn yào guǎn zhì ān, hái yào fù zé shuì shōu hé shuǐ lì.
    In ancient times, a county magistrate not only had to manage public security, but also had to be responsible for tax revenue and water conservancy.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

知zhīknow
县xiàncounty

The official who knows a county; 知 means know and 县 means county.

Characters in this word

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

An early form of 知 showed 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to a child to pass on knowledge. The 子 part was dropped, and the 大 part changed shape.

Open 知 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 縣; 县 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 縣, not the simplified 县, drew an eye 目 standing for a head hung by a string 糸 from a tree 木. It was borrowed for its sound to write the modern meaning "county", so that picture is unrelated.

Open 县 →

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