四合院
sì hé yuàn
Pinyin

Definition

四合院
 - 
sì hé yuàn
  1. courtyard house with a fully enclosed courtyard (type of Chinese residence)

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

合
gě
  1. 1 100 ml
  2. 2 one-tenth of a peck
  3. 3 measure for dry grain equal to one-tenth of sheng 升 or liter, or one-hundredth dou 斗
合作
hé zuò
  1. 1 to cooperate
  2. 2 to collaborate
  3. 3 to work together
  4. 4 cooperation
  5. 5 classifier: 个 gè
合适
hé shì
  1. 1 suitable
  2. 2 fitting
  3. 3 appropriate
四
sì
  1. 1 four
  2. 2 4
组合
zǔ hé
  1. 1 to assemble
  2. 2 to combine
  3. 3 to compose
  4. 4 combination
  5. 5 association
  6. 6 set
  7. 7 compilation
  8. 8 (math.) combinatorial

Idioms (20)

一拍即合
yī pāi jí hé
  1. 1 lit. to be together from the first beat (idiom)
  2. 2 to hit it off
  3. 3 to click together
  4. 4 to chime in easily
三个臭皮匠，合成一个诸葛亮
sān gè chòu pí jiang , hé chéng yī gè Zhū gě Liàng
  1. 1 lit. three ignorant cobblers add up to a genius (idiom); fig. collective wisdom
中西合璧
Zhōng Xī hé bì
  1. 1 harmonious combination of Chinese and Western elements (idiom)
传播四方
chuán bō sì fāng
  1. 1 to disseminate in every direction (idiom)
分久必合，合久必分
fēn jiǔ bì hé , hé jiǔ bì fēn
  1. 1 lit. that which is long divided must unify, and that which is long unified must divide (idiom, from 三國演義|三国演义[Sān guó Yǎn yì])
  2. 2 fig. things are constantly changing

Sample Sentences

可惜，这几年四合院和石库门被拆了很多。现在，许多人都强烈要求保护这些建筑。否则，城市会失去自己宝贵的历史回忆和个性。
kěxī ，zhèjǐnián sìhéyuàn hé shíkùmén bèi chāi le hěn duō 。xiànzài ，xǔduō rén dōu qiángliè yāoqiú bǎohù zhèxiē jiànzhù 。fǒuzé ，chéngshì huì shīqù zìjǐ bǎoguì de lìshǐ huíyì hé gèxìng 。
What a pity that many siheyuan and shikumen have been torn down in the past few years. A lot of people are strongly urging their protection and conservation. A city could lose its invaluable historical memory and identity without them.
Go to Lesson 
嗯，我见过。和你有一样的感觉。不过四合院的起源比石库门早很多。我看书上说，四合院元朝就有了。它之所以叫四合院，是因为房屋是由东西南北四面包围，呈口字形， 中间是花园。大片的四合院中间的通道叫胡同。唉，你知道石库门的起源吗？
ng4 ，wǒ jiàn guo 。hé nǐ yǒu yíyàng de gǎnjué 。bùguò sìhéyuàn de qǐyuán bǐ shíkùmén zǎo hěn duō 。wǒ kàn shūshàng shuō ，sìhéyuàn Yuáncháo jiù yǒu le 。tā zhīsuǒyǐ jiào sìhéyuàn ，shì yīnwèi fángwū shì yóu dōngxīnánběi sìmiàn bāowéi ，chéng kǒu zì xíng ， zhōngjiān shì huāyuán 。dàpiàn de sìhéyuàn zhōngjiàn de tōngdào jiào hútòng 。āi ，nǐ zhīdao shíkùmén de qǐyuán ma ？
Yes, I’ve seen those. I agree with you. Siheyuan have a much older origin than shikumen. According to a book that I read, they date back to the Yuan Dynasty. They got their name because the rooms are surrounded on four sides by walls, forming a square shape. The garden is in the center. The lanes running through blocks of siheyuan are called hutong. Do you know the origin of shikumen?
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是啊。每个城市都有自己的特色民居。它就像城市的脸。你知道吗上海也有类似四合院的建筑，叫石库门。胡同在上海叫弄堂。像北京的建筑一样，别有韵味。
shì ā 。měige chéngshì dōu yǒu zìjǐde tèsè mínjū 。tā jiùxiàng chéngshì de liǎn 。nǐ zhīdao ma Shànghǎi yě yǒu lèisì sìhéyuàn de jiànzhù ，jiào shíkùmén 。hútòng zài Shànghǎi jiào lòngtáng 。xiàng Běijīng de jiànzhù yíyàng ，bié yǒu yùnwèi 。
That’s true. Every city has its own distinct style of residence, which is like the face of the city. Do you know that Shanghai has its own version of the siheyuan, called shikumen. The hutong is known as a longtang there. They have their own unique beauty just like their counterparts in Beijing.
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老北京真有味道。骑着自行车，穿行在胡同和四合院间，特别能体会到北京的历史和人们的生活。
lǎo Běijīng zhēn yǒuwèidào 。qí zhe zìxíngchē ，chuānxíng zài hútòng hé sìhéyuàn jiān ，tèbié néng tǐhuìdào Běijīng de lìshǐ hé rénmen de shēnghuó 。
Old Beijing has such an alluring charm. You can really feel the city's history and how people live as you cycle through the hutong and siheyuan.
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