京城

Chinese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

Noun

京城

1. (literary) capital city (of a country)

   • 董卓乃豺狼也，引入京城，必食人矣。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, circa 14^th century CE

     Dǒng Zhuó nǎi cháiláng yě, yǐnrù jīngchéng, bì shí rén yǐ.

     Dong Zhuo is a wolf and a jackal, if he enters the capital, it will most certainly be people that he devours.

   • 辛丑年^紅賊據京城，王移^福州。 [Korean Literary Sinitic, trad.]

     From: late 15th c., 金時習 (Kim Si-seup), 《李生窺牆傳》, 《金鰲新話》

     Sinchung-nyeon Hongjeok geo gyeongseong, wang i Bokju. [Sino-Korean]

     In the sinchuk year , the Red Bandits occupied the capital ; the king fled to Bokju.

Usage notes

When translating the English term capital city, use 首都 (shǒudū) when referring to the capital of a country, 首府 (shǒufǔ) when referring to the capital of a state or autonomous region, and 省會／省会 (shěnghuì) when referring to the capital of a province. Alternative terms for the capital of a country include 國都／国都 (guódū), 京城 (jīngchéng), 京都 (jīngdū), 京邑 (jīngyì) and 都城 (dūchéng) all of which are more commonly used in literary language. The term 京城 (jīngchéng) is most commonly used in historical dramas set in Imperial China.

Synonyms

Descendants

Others:

• → Zhuang: gingsingz

See also

• 省會／省会 (shěnghuì)
• 首府 (shǒufǔ)

Proper noun

京城

1. (historical) (Japanese colonial era) Seoul, Gyeongseong or Keijō

Japanese

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese. First cited to a text from 706. In turn, from Middle Chinese 京城 (MC kjaeng dzyeng, literally “capital + city, town”).

Possibly encountered in older texts with the reading きょうじょう (kyōjō), using the older goon pronunciation for both characters.

Use to refer to Seoul was based in part on the older name 漢城 (Hanseong), and in part on the Japanese sense of "imperial capital", in referring to the city as the center of administration under the Japanese Empire. The city was also informally called 京城 (Gyeongseong) in Korean during the Joseon dynasty (1392–1897). See also Names_of_Seoul on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) けーじょー (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

京(けい)城(じょう) • (keijō) ^{←けいじやう (keizyau)?}

1. the emperor's residence, the imperial palace
2. the capital, especially within an empire

Proper noun

京(けい)城(じょう) • (Keijō) ^{←けいじやう (keizyau)?}

1. (historical) (Japanese colonial era) Seoul, also known as Gyeongseong (the Korean reading of these same Chinese characters) and Keijō

   京城(けいじょう)帝国大学(ていこくだいがく)

   Keijō Teikoku Daigaku

   Keijō Imperial University

Etymology 2

The older goon pronunciation. Not used in modern Japanese, but possibly still encountered in older texts.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

京(きょう)城(じょう) • (kyōjō) ^{←きやうじやう (kyauzyau)?}

1. (obsolete) the emperor's residence, the imperial palace
2. (obsolete) the capital, especially within an empire

References

Korean

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “when it was first attested?”)

Proper noun

京城 • (Gyeongseong) (hangeul 경성)

1. Hanja form^? of 경성 (“(Japanese colonial era) Seoul, Gyeongseong or Keijō”).

Vietnamese

Noun

京城

1. chữ Hán form of kinh thành (“capital city; imperial city”).