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群众 (qún zhòng) — the masses, the general public (especially in political context)

Definition

群众 (qúnzhòng) refers to 'the masses' — ordinary people as a political/social collective, as in 群众路线 'mass line'. Compare 大众 (more neutral/popular-culture usage) and 公众 (the public, e.g. 公众舆论).

noun
the massesthe general public (especially in political context)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 群众，。
    Gàn bù yào shēn rù qún zhòng, liǎo jiě tā men de xū qiú.
    Cadres should go deep into the masses to understand their needs.
  • 群众。
    qún zhòng De zhì huì shì wú qióng de.
    The wisdom of the masses is inexhaustible.
  • 群众。
    Zhè ge wèn tí xū yào zhēng qiú qún zhòng de yì jiàn.
    This issue requires seeking the opinions of the masses.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

群qúngroup
众zhòngcrowd

群 and 众 both point to many people, together meaning the general public.

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
羊羊yáng
Sound part声符shēngfú
君
君jūn群
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

群 pairs 羊, a sheep, to point to a herd or group, with 君 giving the sound.

Open 群 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 眾; 众 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 眾 shows three people under a sun-like shape, meaning a crowd gathered under the sun; the simplified 众 is a later shorthand.

Open 众 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Groups & OrganizationsSociety & Public Life

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