精工 (Jīng gōng) — exquisite craftsmanship; delicate and painstaki…

Definition

精工 refers to exquisite, painstaking craftsmanship — the skill and care invested in making something, more literary than the everyday 手艺.

noun

exquisite craftsmanshipdelicate and painstaking work

精工。
Zhè kuài shǒu biǎo de Jīng gōng lìng rén zàn tàn.
The exquisite craftsmanship of this watch is admirable.
精工。
Zhè jiàn jiā jù de Jīng gōng tǐ xiàn le shī fu de jì yì.
The delicate workmanship of this piece of furniture reflects the master's skill.
精工。
Tā huā le sān nián shí jiān wán chéng zhè jiàn Jīng gōng zhī zuò.
He spent three years completing this work of exquisite craftsmanship.

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.

精 and 工 combine to mean refined work or exquisite craftsmanship.

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.

米青精

Meaning part形符xíngfú

米米mǐrice

Sound part声符shēngfú

青

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.

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.