岳 (yuè): high mountain

Meanings

1 high mountain
2 mountain peak (classical)
3 wife's parents and paternal uncles
4 surname Yue

Characters

岳

yuè

high mountain; father-in-law's side; surname Yue

Examples

五岳是中国最著名的五座山。

Wǔyuè shì Zhōngguó zuì zhùmíng de wǔ zuò shān.

The Five Sacred Mountains are the most famous peaks in China.

岳飞是南宋著名的爱国将领。

Yuè Fēi shì Nánsòng zhùmíng de àiguó jiānglǐng.

Yue Fei was a famous patriotic general of the Southern Song dynasty.

Tips

history

岳 in classical Chinese specifically meant a great sacred mountain. China's 五岳 (Five Sacred Mountains) include 泰山 (east), 华山 (west), 衡山 (south), 恒山 (north), and 嵩山 (center). 岳 also means 'father-in-law's family' in modern Chinese - 岳父 (father-in-law), 岳母 (mother-in-law).

Components

radical

山 shān

mountain

Bottom 山 - the indexing radical, pictograph of three peaks. The traditional form 嶽 stacked the phonetic 獄 beside 山; the modern 岳 abandoned phonetics for a pure semantic stack - hill above mountain, doubled elevation. Common as a surname and in 岳父 father-in-law ('mountain-father').

semantic

丘 qiū

hill; mound

Top 丘 - pictograph of two low mounds with a depression between, the classical 'hill' character. Stacked over 山 it makes a hill-on-mountain, intensifying the elevation. Captures the meaning of 岳: not any peak, but one of the great sacred ranges (五岳 the Five Sacred Mountains).

In Pop Culture

岳飞 Yuè Fēi

Yue Fei (1103-1142) - legendary Southern Song general and national hero celebrated for resisting the Jin dynasty invasion. He was betrayed and executed by the treacherous minister Qin Hui. His story is one of the most iconic in Chinese patriotic culture.

Historical figure (Song dynasty)