Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An administrative subdivision of a fu, or department, or of an independent chow; also, the seat of government of such a district.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The basic unit of local government in China, approximately equivalent to “county,” or “district.” Xiàn.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Mandarin  (hsien).

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Examples

  • When the day shall come for its history to be told, the historian will have little to say of Lu-fêng-hsien, that is -- if he is a decent sort of fellow.

    Across China on Foot Edwin John Dingle 1926

  • Each fu is subdivided into ten districts under a district magistrate or Chih-hsien, the capital, or county seat as we should call it, having the termination "hsien" or "hien" as for example Wei-hsien.

    New Forces in Old China : An Inevitable Awakening 1904

  • The mostly Cantonese recipes are simple, authentic and easy to follow, but what makes "How to Cook and Eat in Chinese" especially interesting is its discussion of Chinese culinary terms — snacks, for instance, are called tien-hsien , meaning "dot hearts," or something to touch the heart, now transliterated as dim sum.

    How to Cook, and How to Live Jason Epstein 2011

  • K'o hsueh kuai jen (Hsiang-kang: Huang kuan ch'u pan she (Hsiang-kang) yu hsien kung ssu, 1995).

    Editions of Mary Shelley's _Frankenstein_ 2010

  • Hou Hsiao-hsien I hadn't really thought of in relation to the others, and I'm least familiar with his work, having only seen Flight of the Red Balloon and The Puppetmaster.

    Archive 2009-12-01 2009

  • See the new film by Hou Hsiao-hsien, the world-renowned Taiwanese auteur of demanding minimalist dramas?

    GreenCine Daily: Cannes, 5/17. 2007

  • Fundamentals of the Chinese Communist Party (The China book project) by Tang ti chi chu chih shih pien hsien tsu

    OpEdNews - Quicklink: At Book Fair, a Subplot About Chinese Rights 2009

  • Many expected to see Hou Hsiao-hsien's Red Balloon lined up in the Competition at Cannes; instead, it will open Un Certain Regard on May 17.

    GreenCine Daily: Cannes and elsewhere, 4/26. 2007

  • When I started making movies, the preoccupations of Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang affected me, resonated with my own.

    French Connections: Binoche Is Boss in Assayas Family 2009

  • Hou Hsiao-hsien I hadn't really thought of in relation to the others, and I'm least familiar with his work, having only seen Flight of the Red Balloon and The Puppetmaster.

    Directors of the Decade 2009

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