東床
Chinese
editeast | bed; couch; (a measure word) | ||
---|---|---|---|
trad. (東床/東牀) | 東 | 床/牀 | |
simp. (东床) | 东 | 床 | |
Literally: “the eastern bed”. |
Etymology
editFrom a tale in the Book of Jin about the renowned calligrapher Wang Xizhi:
- When Xi Jian―the Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince in the Eastern Jin dynasty―wanted to select a son-in-law from the Wang family, all the eligible young men in the Wang family were trying to impress the envoy sent by the Grand Tutor when he came. The only exception was Wang Xizhi, who was lying nonchalantly on his bed, eating something with his belly exposed.
- The Grand Tutor was informed of what the envoy had observed, that all the young men of the Wang family were fine-looking, albeit reserved, excepting a young man who lay on a bed in the east with a bare abdomen. The Grand Tutor remarked: “That is the one I want as my son-in-law!” He visited the Wang family himself, realised the young man was Wang Xizhi, and gave his daughter to him in marriage.
Pronunciation
edit- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄥ ㄔㄨㄤˊ
- Tongyong Pinyin: dongchuáng
- Wade–Giles: tung1-chʻuang2
- Yale: dūng-chwáng
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dongchwang
- Palladius: дунчуан (dunčuan)
- Sinological IPA (key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰu̯ɑŋ³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: dung1 cong4
- Yale: dūng chòhng
- Cantonese Pinyin: dung1 tsong4
- Guangdong Romanization: dung1 cong4
- Sinological IPA (key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ t͡sʰɔːŋ²¹/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Middle Chinese: tuwng dzrjang
Noun
edit東床
- (figurative) son-in-law
- 因未有室,賈赦見是世交之孫,且人品家當都相稱合,遂青目擇為東床嬌婿。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
- From: Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, mid-18th century CE
- Yīn wèi yǒushì, Gǔ Shè jiàn shì shìjiāo zhī sūn, qiě rénpǐn jiādàng dōu xiāng chènhé, suì qīngmù zé wéi dōngchuáng jiāoxù. [Pinyin]
- Seeing that [Sun Shaozu] is unmarried and is the grandson of the Sun family (a family of longstanding friendship with the Jia family), and there is a good match in characters and family backgrounds, Jia She favours him to be the son-in-law of the family.
因未有室,贾赦见是世交之孙,且人品家当都相称合,遂青目择为东床娇婿。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]
- (figurative, literary) guest bed
Derived terms
editCategories:
- Chinese lemmas
- Mandarin lemmas
- Cantonese lemmas
- Middle Chinese lemmas
- Chinese nouns
- Mandarin nouns
- Cantonese nouns
- Middle Chinese nouns
- Chinese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Chinese terms spelled with 東
- Chinese terms spelled with 床
- Mandarin terms with usage examples
- Mandarin terms with quotations
- Chinese literary terms
- zh:Family