阳间 (yáng jiān) — the world of the living; this mortal world (as opposed to the underworld)

Definition

阳间 means 'the world of the living' — the mortal realm as opposed to 阴间, the underworld. The term is paired directly with 阴间 in set phrases (阳间和阴间).

noun
the world of the livingthis mortal world (as opposed to the underworld)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 阳间。
    Rén zài yáng jiān yào hǎo hǎo shēng huó.
    People should live well in the world of the living.
  • 阳间。
    Tā xiāng xìn sǐ hòu huì lí kāi yáng jiān.
    He believes that after death he will leave the world of the living.
  • 阳间。
    yáng jiān Hé yīn jiān shì liǎng gè bù tóng de shì jiè.
    The world of the living and the underworld are two different worlds.

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.

阳yángyang, living realm
间jiānworld

阳 refers to the living yang realm and 间 means world, so together they mean this mortal world.

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 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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 间 →

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