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尚书

尚書
shàngshū
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 Book of Documents (Shangshu), one of the Five Confucian Classics
  2. 2 minister (head of a central government ministry in imperial China)

Examples

《尚书》是中国最早的历史文献汇编。
《Shàngshū》 shì Zhōngguó zuì zǎo de lìshǐ wénxiàn huìbiān.
The Shangshu is China's earliest collection of historical documents.
他在明朝官至吏部尚书。
Tā zài Míngcháo guān zhì Lìbù Shàngshū.
In the Ming dynasty he rose to the position of Minister of Personnel.
六部尚书是明清中央政府的核心官员。
Liùbù Shàngshū shì Míng-Qīng zhōngyāng zhèngfǔ de héxīn guānyuán.
The Ministers of the Six Boards were core officials of the Ming and Qing central governments.

Tips

history
Two meanings, same word. (1) 《尚书》 (also 书经) is one of the Five Classics, supposedly edited by Confucius, preserving speeches and decrees from the Xia, Shang, and Zhou courts. (2) From the Tang onwards, 尚书 became the title for the head of each of the 六部 (Six Boards): personnel (吏部), revenue (户部), rites (礼部), war (兵部), justice (刑部), and works (工部).
memory
尚 ("esteemed, upper") + 书 ("documents") = "the esteemed documents" — a literal label for both the classical book and, later, the minister in charge of a board's documents.

Stroke Order

尚 shàng
书 shū