重生 (chóng shēng) — to be reborn; to experience rebirth

Definition

Literary/literary-styled verb meaning 'to be reborn' — a city, civilization, or spirit rising anew, often symbolic (e.g. the phoenix). Concrete 'be born again' is usually 再生.

verb
to be rebornto experience rebirth

Examples

  • 重生
    Zhè chǎng dà huǒ zhī hòu, zhěng gè chéng shì fǎng fú huò dé le chóng shēng.
    After this great fire, the entire city seemed to have been reborn.
  • 重生
    Fèng huáng zài huǒ yàn zhōng chóng shēng, xiàng zhēng zhe chóng shēng hé xī wàng.
    The phoenix is reborn in flames, symbolizing rebirth and hope.
  • 重生
    Tā zài shī bài hòu chóng xīn zhàn qǐ lái, jiù xiàng huò dé le dì èr cì chóng shēng.
    He stood up again after failure, as if he had gotten a second rebirth.

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.

The 重 (again) and 生 (birth) combine to mean be reborn.

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
rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
dōngzhòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Open 重 →

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →

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