后庭

後庭

hòutíng

noun #84,426

Meanings

1 backyard
2 imperial harem (literary)
3 (slang) anus

Characters

Examples

他在后庭种了几棵桂花树。

Tā zài hòutíng zhòng le jǐ kē guìhuā shù.

He planted a few osmanthus trees in the back courtyard.

皇帝退到后庭，再也不理朝政。

Huángdì tuì dào hòutíng, zài yě bù lǐ cháozhèng.

The emperor retreated to the inner palace and stopped attending to state affairs.

Tips

history

Du Mu's (杜牧) Tang poem 《泊秦淮》 — '商女不知亡国恨，隔江犹唱后庭花' — uses 后庭花 'rear-courtyard flower' to refer to the decadent palace song that became a metaphor for a fallen dynasty's negligence. The slang anatomical sense is modern and informal.

Stroke Order

后 hòu

庭 tíng