花子 (huāzi): beggar (older term)

Meanings

1 beggar (older term)
2 (historical) vagrant

Characters

花

Examples

旧社会里,街上常见叫花子。

Jiù shèhuì lǐ, jiē shàng cháng jiàn jiàohuāzi.

In old society, beggars were a common sight on the streets.

这本小说描写了一个花子的传奇人生。

Zhè běn xiǎoshuō miáoxiě le yí ge huāzi de chuánqí rénshēng.

This novel depicts the legendary life of a beggar.

Tips

register

Older/regional term, mostly fossilised in 叫花子 (jiàohuāzi, 'beggar', literally 'one who calls out / cries for alms'). Modern Chinese uses 乞丐 (qǐgài) or 流浪汉 (liúlànghàn) instead. Note that the suffix 子 here is unstressed — pinyin shows it as toneless 'zi'.

mistakes

Don't confuse with 花子 in 花子虚 (a Ming-dynasty character in 《金瓶梅》) or with 花种 (huāzhǒng, 'flower seeds'). On its own, 花子 specifically means 'beggar', not 'flower'.