虚无主义 (xū wú zhǔ yì) — nihilism

Definition

A philosophical stance (主义) holding that life and traditional values have no inherent meaning — distinct from 悲观 (a personal feeling of hopelessness). The suffix -主义 marks it as a school of thought, not an emotion.

noun
nihilism

Examples

  • 虚无主义，。
    Xǔ duō nián qīng rén bèi xū wú zhǔ yì suǒ kùn rǎo, jué de shēng huó méi yǒu yì yì.
    Many young people are troubled by nihilism, feeling that life has no meaning.
  • 虚无主义，。
    Tā de zuò pǐn chōng mǎn le xū wú zhǔ yì de sè cǎi, zhì yí yí qiè chuán tǒng jià zhí.
    His works are full of a nihilistic tone, questioning all traditional values.
  • ，虚无主义。
    Zài zhé xué shǐ shàng, xū wú zhǔ yì shì duì qǐ méng lǐ xìng de yì zhǒng jí duān fǎn yìng.
    In the history of philosophy, nihilism is an extreme reaction to Enlightenment rationalism.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

虚无void nothingness
虚xūvoid无wúnone
联合Side by side
主义-ism
主zhǔ义yì

“虚无” gives voidness and “主义” gives doctrine, together meaning nihilism.

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 虛; 虚 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
丘丘qiūhill
Sound part声符shēngfú
虍
虍hū虛xū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 虛 pairs the upper 虍, which gives the sound, with a lower part shaped like 丘, 'hill'; the simplified 虚 is a later shorthand.

Open 虚 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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

The old forms that became 主 showed a lamp or torch with a flame at the top; other forms showed wood on fire or a spirit tablet.

Open 主 →

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 義; 义 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
羊羊yáng
Sound part声符shēngfú
我
我wǒ義yì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 義 has 我 giving the sound and 羊 meaning good or auspicious; the simplified 义 is a later abbreviation.

Open 义 →

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