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重阳节 (Chóng yáng jié) — Double Ninth Festival (9th day of the 9th lunar month); a traditional Chinese festival for climbing heights and honoring the elderly

Definition

The Double Ninth Festival, on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month. Traditionally a day for climbing high and honoring the elderly.

noun
Double Ninth Festival (9th day of the 9th lunar month)a traditional Chinese festival for climbing heights and honoring the elderly

Examples

  • 重阳节。
    Jīn nián Chóng yáng jié shì xīng qī sì.
    The Double Ninth Festival falls on Thursday this year.
  • 重阳节。
    Chóng yáng jié Rén men xǐ huan dēng gāo wàng yuǎn.
    During the Double Ninth Festival, people enjoy climbing high and looking far.
  • ？
    Nǐ dǎ suàn zěn me guò Chóng yáng jié?
    How do you plan to spend the Double Ninth Festival?

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.

重阳double yang
重zhòngdouble阳yángyang
偏正Modifier + head
节jiéfestival

重阳 names the double-yang day, and 节 marks it as a festival.

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
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng重zhòng
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 →

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 陽; 阳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fùhill
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng陽yáng
Same sound today

In the traditional form 陽, 阜 shows a hill and 昜 is the older character for the word, tied to sunshine and the sound; simplified 阳 is a later shorthand.

Open 阳 →

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 節; 节 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺮Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
即
即jí節jié
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 節 pairs ⺮ (bamboo) with 即, which gives the sound; the bamboo part points to a node of bamboo. The simplified 节 is a later abbreviation.

Open 节 →
Appears in
HSK 2.0 Level 6

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