苍老 (cāng lǎo) — old and aged (of a person's appearance, often with a sense of weariness); vigorous and forceful (of calligraphy or painting brushwork)

Definition

苍老 describes a weathered, aged appearance — usually a person's looks showing weariness, or a painting/calligraphy style that is vigorous and forceful rather than delicate.

adjective
old and aged (of a person's appearance, often with a sense of weariness)vigorous and forceful (of calligraphy or painting brushwork)

Examples

  • ，苍老。
    Jǐ nián bú jiàn, tā biàn de cāng lǎo le xǔ duō.
    After a few years without seeing him, he had aged a lot.
  • 苍老，。
    Zhè fú zì de bǐ fǎ cāng lǎo yǒu lì, yí kàn jiù shì dà jiā shǒu bǐ.
    The brushwork in this calligraphy piece is vigorous and forceful — clearly a master's hand.
  • 苍老。
    Lǎo rén liǎn shàng de zhòu wén xiǎn de shí fēn cāng lǎo.
    The wrinkles on the old man's face looked very aged.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

苍cāngold
老lǎoold

苍 and 老 both convey agedness, together suggesting an old, weathered appearance or an aged, forceful style.

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 蒼; 苍 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
倉
倉cāng蒼cāng
Same sound today

The traditional form 蒼 pairs 艸 (grass) with 倉 as a sound part. The simplified 苍 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 苍 →

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

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

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