(sī xiǎng) - thought, thinking, ideology in Mandarin
sīxiǎngTraditional: 思想
Translation
thought, thinking, ideology
Word origin
A compound of 思 (sī, to think, to ponder) and 想 (xiǎng, to think, to consider), both built on 心 (heart, the seat of thought in Chinese).
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 思 (sī, to ponder) + 想 (xiǎng, to think)
Stroke order
思
想
Examples
。
His thinking is very open.
。
This book introduces the thought of Laozi.
。
We need to be mentally prepared.
。
Her thinking is more mature than that of others her age.
，。
Education is not only knowledge, it is thought as well.
思想 (sī xiǎng) is thought as a body of ideas rather than a single passing one: a thinker's philosophy, a person's outlook, a school's doctrine. 儒家思想 is Confucian thought; 他的思想变了 says his whole way of seeing things has shifted.
It also turns up in fixed pairings about someone's mental state, above all 思想准备, being braced for something, and 思想工作, the business of talking someone round to a position.
The trap is size. English lets you say I had a thought for anything at all, but 思想 is far too heavy for that. A passing idea is 想法, a bright suggestion is 主意, and the act of thinking something over is 思考. Reserve 思想 for ideas with a system behind them.
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思想: worksheet, infographic and listicle
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 46.