开篇

開篇

kāipiān

noun #30,372

Meanings

1 opening of a literary work
2 introductory chapter
3 prologue
4 (in tanci ballad) opening song before the main story

Characters

chapter, piece of writing

Examples

HSK 3

这部小说的开篇就抓住了读者。

Zhèbù xiǎoshuō de kāipiān jiù zhuāzhù le dúzhě.

The opening of this novel grabs the reader from the start.

HSK 6

评弹的开篇通常是一段独立的唱词。

Píngtán de kāipiān tōngcháng shì yī duàn dúlì de chàngcí.

The kāipiān of pingtan is usually a self-contained sung passage.

Tips

culture

Two senses worth knowing. (1) General: the opening section of an essay, novel, or speech - modern, neutral. (2) Specific: a tradition in Suzhou pingtan 评弹 storytelling and Yue/Hu opera, where a stand-alone sung piece (越剧开篇, 沪剧开篇) precedes the main story as a warm-up - it can also be performed independently as its own concert piece.

memory

开 (open) + 篇 (chapter, written piece) - 'to open a piece'. Same 篇 you find in 篇章 (chapter, section) and 短篇 (short piece).

Stroke Order

开 kāi

篇 piān