传 (zhuàn): biography

Meanings

1 biography
2 historical narrative
3 commentary (on a classic text)
4 relay station (archaic)

Characters

传

zhuàn

biography

Examples

他正在写自己的自传。

Tā zhèngzài xiě zìjǐ de zìzhuàn.

He is writing his own autobiography.

水浒传是中国四大名著之一。

Shuǐhǔzhuàn shì Zhōngguó sìdà míngzhù zhīyī.

Water Margin is one of China's Four Great Classical Novels.

左传是对春秋的重要注解。

Zuǒzhuàn shì duì Chūnqiū de zhòngyào zhùjiě.

The Zuo Zhuan is an important commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals.

Tips

usage

zhuàn names a written life-story, historical account, or canonical commentary. It appears at the end of book titles (水浒传, 甄嬛传) and in fixed nouns (自传 autobiography, 传记 biography, 经传 classics and commentaries).

memory

Test by meaning, not position. If the word names a written account of someone's life or a classic-commentary, it's zhuàn (传记, 左传). If it's about something moving or being passed along, it's chuán (传球, 传染). 前传 has both: qiánchuán = forward pass; qiánzhuàn = prequel.

Components

radical

亻 rén

person radical

Left radical 亻 is the side-form of 人 (person). It marks 传 as a person-mediated action: handing things along, telling stories, passing on craft. Same radical anchors 信 (letter), 任 (assign), 仅 (only).

phonetic

专 zhuān

specialised; concentrated

Right phonetic 专 supplies the sound — zhuān shifted to chuán via onset alternation in the same place of articulation. Traditional 傳 used the fuller 專 phonetic; simplified 专 keeps the role with fewer strokes. Same phonetic in 转 (turn) and 砖 (brick).

In Pop Culture

甄嬛传 Zhēnhuánzhuàn

Empresses in the Palace

Hugely popular 2011 Qing-palace drama (76 episodes). Title ends in zhuàn = 'legend / biography', the standard suffix for serialised life-story titles.