禁军 (jìnjūn): imperial guard

Meanings

1 imperial guard
2 palace guard (in imperial China)

Characters

禁

jìn

forbidden; palace area

军

jūn

army; troops

Examples

宋朝的禁军直接由皇帝统辖。

Sòng cháo de jìnjūn zhíjiē yóu huángdì tǒngxiá.

The Song dynasty's imperial guard was under the emperor's direct command.

林冲曾是八十万禁军教头。

Lín Chōng céng shì bāshí wàn jìnjūn jiàotóu.

Lin Chong was once an instructor of the 800,000-strong imperial guard.

Tips

history

禁 (jìn) here means 'forbidden / palace area' (cf. 紫禁城 Forbidden City), not 'prohibit'. Hence 禁军 = 'army of the forbidden quarters' = the troops stationed inside the palace. The Song dynasty famously made 禁军 its main standing army, a system featured prominently in 《水浒传》 (Outlaws of the Marsh) — the hero 林冲 is its drill instructor.