乌鸦

烏鴉
wūyā
noun #7,662

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 crow; raven

Examples

Shù shàng zhàn zhe yī zhī wūyā.
A crow is perched on the tree.
Tiānxià wūyā yībān hēi.
All crows under heaven are equally black. (Bad people are the same everywhere.)
Wūyā shì hěn cōngming de niǎo.
Crows are very intelligent birds.

Tips

culture
In Chinese culture, crows are traditionally seen as unlucky birds. The proverb 天下乌鸦一般 (all crows are black) means corrupt people are the same everywhere. However, in some ancient texts, crows symbolized filial piety because they were believed to feed their aging parents.
memory
means 'black/dark' and means 'crow' -- so 乌鸦 literally means 'black crow', which is fitting since they are entirely black.

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