郡 (jùn) · county, prefecture, shire

Measure Word

一个郡 gè

Meanings

1 county
2 prefecture
3 shire

Characters

郡

jùn

county; prefecture

Examples

HSK 5

这个郡有三十万人口。

Zhège jùn yǒu sānshíwàn rénkǒu.

This county has a population of 300,000.

HSK 5

古代的郡比现在的县要大。

Gǔdài de jùn bǐ xiànzài de xiàn yào dà.

Ancient prefectures were larger than modern counties.

Tips

history

郡 was a major administrative division in ancient China, established during the Qin dynasty. The 郡县制 (prefecture-county system) was one of China's earliest centralized governance structures.

Components

radical

阝 yì

city; town (right-side form of 邑)

City radical on the right - 阝 on the right is 邑 (settlement, walled town); on the left it would mean 阜 (mound), so position matters. As 邑-form it indexes 郡 in the family of administrative-place words: 都 (capital), 邦 (state), 郊 (suburbs), 部 (district). 郡 originally meant a commandery, a region administered from a town.

phonetic

君 jūn

lord; ruler (here phonetic)

Left component supplies the sound: jūn to jùn, tone shift only. 君 is itself 尹 (rule with a hand) over 口 (decree by mouth) = 'one who governs by command'. Beyond sound it leaves a faint 'jurisdiction' flavour: a 郡 is the territory under a 君. Same phonetic appears in 群 (flock) - note initial drift there.