TongTong
Sign in

金门 (Jīn mén) — Kinmen or Quemoy islands (administered by Taiwan, near Fujian coast); Jinmen county (in Quanzhou, Fujian, PRC)

Definition

Proper noun referring to the Kinmen islands off the Fujian coast. Politically complex: administered by Taiwan (Republic of China) but historically and geographically tied to mainland China's Quanzhou, Fujian.

noun
Kinmen or Quemoy islands (administered by Taiwan, near Fujian coast)Jinmen county (in Quanzhou, Fujian, PRC)

Examples

  • 金门。
    Cóng xià mén kě yǐ zuò chuán qù Jīn mén dǎo.
    You can take a ferry from Xiamen to Kinmen Island.
  • 金门，。
    Jīn mén Xiàn lì shǔ yú quán zhōu shì, shì yí gè yán hǎi xiàn.
    Jinmen County is under the jurisdiction of Quanzhou city and is a coastal county.
  • 金门。
    Zhè cì lǚ xíng jì huà qù Jīn mén kàn kàn nà lǐ de zhàn dì yí jì.
    This trip plans to go to Kinmen to see the battlefield relics there.

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.

金jīngold
门méngate

金 (gold) and 门 (gate) form the place name, literally a golden gate.

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.

金 was drawn with marks for two pieces of metal, along with a part that gave its sound; it first meant copper, then metals and gold.

Open 金 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

Open 门 →
Appears in
China — Places

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.