昆仑 (Kūnlún): Kunlun Mountains

Meanings

1 Kunlun Mountains
2 Kunlun (mythological mountain)

Characters

昆

kūn

elder brother; used in place names

仑

lún

order, logic (component of proper name)

Examples

昆仑山是中国神话的发源地。

Kūnlún Shān shì Zhōngguó shénhuà de fāyuán dì.

The Kunlun Mountains are a cradle of Chinese mythology.

昆仑山脉横跨新疆和西藏。

Kūnlún shānmài héngkuà Xīnjiāng hé Xīzàng.

The Kunlun range spans Xinjiang and Tibet.

Tips

culture

昆仑 is both a real range (~2,500 km along the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau) and the mythological axis mundi of Chinese religion — home of the 西王母 (Queen Mother of the West), the 瑶池 pool of immortality, and the source of the Yellow River. In Daoism and wuxia fiction it is the quintessential 'fairyland' mountain.