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精华 (jīng huá) — essence; quintessence; the best or most important part of something

Definition

精华 means 'the essence' — the most valuable, refined part of something (a culture, a work, a product). Pairs with 精髓, but 精髓 leans more toward 'the core idea/pith', while 精华 also covers the practical 'highlight or best part'.

noun
essencequintessencethe best or most important part of something

Examples

  • 精华。
    Zhè cì lǚ xíng de jīng huá shì kàn dào le rì chū.
    The highlight of this trip was seeing the sunrise.
  • 精华。
    Zhè zhǒng xiāng shuǐ de jīng huá shì cóng huā zhōng tí qǔ de.
    The essence of this perfume is extracted from flowers.
  • 精华。
    Chuán tǒng wén huà de jīng huá xū yào wǒ men qù chuán chéng.
    The essence of traditional culture needs to be passed down by us.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

精jīngessence
华huáflower

精 (essence) and 华 (flower) both point to the most valuable part, giving the sense of quintessence.

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
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng精jīng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

精 pairs 米 (rice) with 青, which gives the sound; the character originally meant polished rice.

Open 精 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 華; 华 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 華 showed flowers on a plant, with stalk and leaves below. The simplified 华 is a later shorthand and not the original picture.

Open 华 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract Concepts

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