小康社会

小康社會

xiǎokāngshèhuì

noun

Meanings

1 moderately prosperous society
2 society in which most citizens' material needs are adequately met

Characters

well-off / healthy

society / community

association / gathering

Examples

中国宣布全面建成小康社会。

Zhōngguó xuānbù quánmiàn jiànchéng xiǎokāng shèhuì.

China declared it had finished building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

全面小康社会是邓小平提出的目标。

Quánmiàn xiǎokāng shèhuì shì Dèng Xiǎopíng tíchū de mùbiāo.

An all-round moderately prosperous society was a goal first proposed by Deng Xiaoping.

Tips

history

The term 小康 (xiǎokāng) is ancient — it comes from the Book of Songs (《诗经》) and the Liji (《礼记·礼运》), where it described a stable, comfortable society one rung below the utopian 大同 (dàtóng, 'great unity'). Deng Xiaoping borrowed the word in 1979 to brand China's economic targets.

register

Heavy political-news vocabulary; you will hear it constantly in CCTV broadcasts and Party documents but rarely in everyday speech.

Stroke Order

小 xiǎo

康 kāng

社 shè

会 huì