车马

車馬
chēmǎ
noun #63,591

Meanings

  1. 1 carriages and horses
  2. 2 traffic
  3. 3 visitors; callers

Examples

HSK 5
Tā tuìxiū yǐhòu, ménqián de chēmǎ jiànjiàn shǎo le.
After he retired, fewer and fewer visitors came to his door.
HSK 7-9
Tángdài de Cháng'ān jiētóu chēmǎ láiláiwǎngwǎng, shífēn rènao.
In Tang-dynasty Chang'an, carriages and horses came and went in the streets, and the city was very lively.

Tips

culture
Two famous lines use it: Tao Yuanming's 结庐在人境,而无车马喧 (I built my hut among people, yet hear no noise of carriages and horses), and 门前冷落车马稀 (the gate is deserted and callers are few), the usual quoted form of a line in Bai Juyi's Song of the Pipa. Today the word survives in 车马费, a travel allowance paid to speakers or guests.

Stroke Order

车 chē
马 mǎ