半
half; semi-; incomplete; (after a number) and a half
Closest English meanings
half·semi-·partly
The Calligrapher — Wú Jū 吴琚
Song running-script master famed for closely emulating Mi Fu.
Song calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 学米芾. Song dynasty
Cultural Story
Bai Juyi's old charcoal seller is paid “半匹红纱一丈绨” — half a bolt of red gauze and a length of green silk — for a cart of winter fuel, the empire's mockery of a fair price. 半 is the cut thing: 半夜 the deep hour, 半岛 the land the sea only half rings.
Common words & phrases
- 一半 half
- 半天 half a day · quite a while
- 半路 halfway · midway
- 半夜 midnight · late at night
- 半岛 peninsula
Read the story behind the character
A coupon takes 一半 off; 半天 is the wait a clinic quotes. 半路 a tire goes flat, 半夜 the baby wakes, and 半岛 the map's hook a tourist drives. The word halves the price, the day, and the road — the measure of the partial in a life that rarely finishes.
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