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红颜 (hóng yán) — a beautiful woman (literary, poetic); a beauty (in classical Chinese literature)

Definition

红颜 (hóng yán) is a literary term for a beautiful woman, almost always used in the fixed phrase 红颜知己 (a close female confidante). Carries a classical, poetic tone — avoid in everyday speech.

noun
a beautiful woman (literary, poetic)a beauty (in classical Chinese literature)

Examples

  • 红颜。
    Tā shì yí wèi qīng guó qīng chéng de hóng yán.
    She is a stunning beauty who could topple cities.
  • 红颜。
    Zì gǔ hóng yán duō bó mìng.
    Since ancient times, beautiful women often have ill fate.
  • 红颜。
    Zhè shǒu shī miáo xiě le yí wèi hóng yán de bēi cǎn mìng yùn.
    This poem describes the tragic fate of a beautiful woman.

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.

红hóngred
颜yánface

“红” describes the “颜”, and the image of a rosy face came to mean a beautiful woman.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 紅; 红 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìsilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng紅hóng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 紅 puts 糸 (silk) next to 工, which gives the sound; the simplified 红 is a later shorthand.

Open 红 →

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 顏; 颜 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
彥
彥yàn顏⁰yán
Same sound today

The traditional form 顏, not the simplified 颜, pairs 彥 as a sound part with 頁, a head, for face or countenance.

Open 颜 →
Appears in
People (General)

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