TongTong
Sign in

衣食住行 (yī shí zhù xíng) — (set phrase) the four basic necessities of life: clothing, food, housing, and transportation

Definition

A set phrase covering the four basic necessities of life: clothing, food, housing, and transport. 服装 refers to clothing alone; 住房 to housing alone — 衣食住行 bundles all four together as one concept.

phrase
(set phrase) the four basic necessities of life: clothing, food, housing, and transportation

Examples

  • ，衣食住行。
    Suí zhe jīng jì fā zhǎn, rén men duì yú yī shí zhù xíng de yāo qiú yuè lái yuè gāo le.
    As the economy develops, people's demands for basic necessities are getting higher and higher.
  • ，衣食住行。
    Zài dà chéng shì lǐ, yī shí zhù xíng de zhī chū zhàn shōu rù de dà bù fen.
    In big cities, spending on basic necessities makes up the majority of income.
  • ，衣食住行。
    Zhè ge xiǎo qū zhōu biān shè shī qí quán, yī shí zhù xíng fēi cháng fāng biàn.
    This neighborhood has complete facilities around it, making daily life very convenient.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 衣 comes from an outline of the chest and upper clothing.

Open 衣 →

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

  • 亼亼jímouth
  • 皀皀jía bowl of rice on a stand

The form behind 食 shows 亼, a mouth, together with 皀, a bowl of rice on a stand. In modern 食, the bowl part has changed shape.

Open 食 →

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
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
主
主zhǔ住zhù
Same sound today

住 pairs 亻, the person radical (written fully as 人), with 主, which supplies the sound.

Open 住 →

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

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.