青天 (qīng tiān) — blue sky; (historical) upright magistrate; clean and upright official

Definition

Literally 'blue sky', 青天 refers to a clear, cloudless sky (the literal sense in everyday use). In classical/historical writing it also stands for an upright, incorruptible official — used respectfully, like calling such a judge 'a sky of clear blue'.

noun
blue sky(historical) upright magistrateclean and upright official
Measure word · 片

Examples

  • 青天，。
    Jīn tiān de qīng tiān zhēn lán, méi yǒu yì duǒ yún.
    Today's blue sky is really blue, without a single cloud.
  • ，青天。
    Zài gǔ dài, rén men chēng qīng guān wèi qīng tiān.
    In ancient times, people called honest officials 'blue sky'.
  • 青天。
    Zhè wèi qīng tiān wèi bǎi xìng zuò le hěn duō hǎo shì.
    This upright magistrate did many good things for the people.

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
天tiānsky

青 gives blue, and 天 gives sky, so it means blue 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 →

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

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