存在 (cún zài) means to exist or existence. 存 means to preserve or store and 在 means to be at/present, together suggesting something that is present and persists. In philosophy it is used to translate existence (存在主义, existentialism). In everyday contexts it describes whether something exists (问题存在, the problem exists) or the act of something persisting (长期存在, to exist for a long time). The famous Hegelian phrase 存在即合理 (whatever is real is rational) circulates widely in Chinese intellectual discourse.