青云 (qīng yún) — (literary) high official position; rapid advancement in rank; (literary) lofty virtue or moral eminence; (literary) retirement; peaceful seclusion

Definition

Literary noun almost always appearing in set phrases: 平步青云 ('soar to a high post'), 直上青云 ('rise straight to the clouds'). Don't translate it word-for-word; treat the whole idiom as the unit of meaning.

noun
(literary) high official positionrapid advancement in rank(literary) lofty virtue or moral eminence(literary) retirementpeaceful seclusion

Examples

  • 。
    Tā nián qīng shí biàn lì zhì yào píng bù qīng yún.
    He set his ambition as a young man to rise rapidly in officialdom.
  • 青云。
    Zhè wèi lǎo rén de pǐn dé rú qīng yún bān gāo jié.
    This elderly person's virtue is as noble as the azure clouds.
  • ，青云。
    Gōng chéng míng jiù hòu, tā xuǎn zé yǐn tuì qīng yún.
    After achieving fame and success, he chose to retire into seclusion.

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.

青qīngblue-green
云yúncloud

青 gives the blue-green color, and 云 names the clouds high in the sky.

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.

An early form of 青 combined 生 and 井, both used for sound; the modern form has changed.

Open 青 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 雲; 云 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 雲 is 雨 (rain) plus 云; 云 was the original writing for 'cloud', and 雨 was added to separate it from the borrowed sense 'to say'.

Open 云 →

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