Classical Chinese Essentials: Mastering 之 zhī

One of the most common Chinese characters inherited from Classical Chinese is 之. Mastering this character can unlock many difficult idioms, newspaper articles, and Chinese literary texts. 之 is also used to express percentages and fractions. Understanding 之 will make you a better writer in Chinese, allowing you to use more advanced words and phrases. This post will break down the many uses of 之 and provide you with examples to gain a better understanding of how and when to use it.

Possession

Since this is the Taiwanese release of The Wolf of Wall Street, the title is in traditional Chinese and Leonardo’s name is translated as 李奧納多·狄卡皮歐 (Lǐ ào nà duō·dí kǎ pí ōu).

The movie “Revolutionary Road” is translated as 革命之路 gémìng zhī lù, literally “Revolution’s Road.” 之路 zhī lù is also used frequently in other four-letter phrases, and it means “the road,” “the journey,” or “the path.” Another movie that uses 之路 is “The Road to Perdition” 毁灭之路 huǐmiè zhī lù. Outside of movies, the Silk Road is translated as 丝绸之路 sīchóu zhī lù.

A more direct translation of a movie is the “Son of God,” which is translated as 上帝之子 shàngdì zhīzǐ. The movie could be translated as 上帝的孩子 shàngdì de háizi but it sounds too colloquial (白话 báihuà) and it breaks the four character structure of many Chinese expressions. As these examples show, 之 serves the same function as 的 but gives titles a more formal feel and helps retain the four character structure of idioms (not always though).

Here are a few more examples of English movies translated into Chinese that use 之.

• 人Rén类lèi之zhī子zǐ Children of Men
• 战zhàn争zhēng之zhī王wáng Lord of War
• 狂Kuáng蟒mǎng之zhī灾zāi Anaconda
• 罪zuì恶è之zhī城chéng Sin City
• 诸Zhū神shén之zhī战zhàn Clash of the Titans
• 暮mù光guāng之zhī城chéng：暮mù色sè Twilight
• 公gōng众zhòng之zhī敌dí Public Enemies

After you understand how 之 can be used as 的, more difficult four-letter phrases can be deciphered. Let’s take a look at 共同之处 gòngtóng zhī chù which means “something in common” or “overlap.” 处 chù means “place” or “point,” similar to 地方 dìfāng. By extension, it can also mean “aspect.” Words that use 处 include 到处 dàochù (everywhere), 好处 hǎochù (good point; benefit; advantage), and 难处 nánchu (difficulty; trouble). It is important to note that fourth tone 处  is different from third tone 处, which means “to live”, “to dwell”, and “to manage” as in 处理 chúlǐ (to handle; to deal with) or 处罚 chǔfá (to punish). 共同 means “common” and “mutual.” If you translate 共同之处 literally into more casual Chinese you get 共同的地方 (a place of commonality), but 共同之处 retains that four letter structure and just sounds more elegant. Below are some examples of 共同之处. Also, note how it is used in conjunction with 有 (to have).

他们有很多共同之处tāmen yǒu hěnduō gòngtóng zhī chù。
They have a lot in common.

它们有什么共同之处呢tāmen yǒu shén me gòngtóng zhī chù ne？
What do they have in common?

这两个健康保险方案丝毫没有共同之处zhè liǎng gè jiànkāng báoxiǎn fāng’àn sīháo méiyǒu gòngtóng zhī chù。
The two health insurance schemes have nothing at all in common.

这两则新闻有何共同之处zhè liǎng zé xīnwén yǒu hé gòngtóng zhī chù？
What do these newspaper stories have in common?
(In this example, 何 is the formal version of 什么. You can translate this as 有什么共同之处).

我发现我们没有什么共同之处wǒ fāxiàn wǒmen méiyǒu shénme gòngtóng zhī chù。
I realized that we have nothing in common.

There are many more idioms and set phrases that use 之 as a possession marker. Below are just a sample:

• 当务之急dāng wù zhī jí – a matter of vital importance
• 井底之蛙jǐng dǐ zhī wā – the frog at the bottom of the well (idiom); a person of limited outlook and experience
• 漏网之鱼lòu wǎng zhī yú – a fish that has slipped through the net; fugitive; homeless exile
• 患难之交huàn nàn zhī jiāo – friend in adversity
• 一面之交yī miàn zhī jiāo – have met only once; be casually acquainted
• 可取之处kě qǔ zhī chù – a saving grace; positive point; redeeming point

之 as an Object Pronoun

Another common usage of 之 is as an object pronoun of a sentence. This is very similar to the English “it.” However, it is different from 他 tā and 她 tā, which mean “he” and “she,” respectively. 牠 tā is used exclusively for animals. While 它 also means “it,” it is used differently in Chinese, and the two not interchangeable. A few examples will make it clear how to use 之 as an object pronoun.

In the phrase 为之付出wèi zhī fùchū,  为 (fourth tone) means “for,” 之 means “it,” and 付出 is a verb that means “to pay” or “to invest.” When you combine them, they mean “pay for it.” Another example is 用之不竭 yòng zhī bù jié (use-it-not-exhaustible) which translates as”inexhaustible.” 用之不竭 is often combined with 取之不尽 qǔ zhī bú jìn (take-it-endless), which means “inexhaustible,” “bottomless,” and “endless,” to form 取之不尽, 用之不竭. As you can see, both set phrases essentially mean the same thing but with different characters. This is a feature of the Chinese language that also appears with verb-object combinations like 游泳 yóuyǒng (to-swim-swimming) and 睡觉 shuìjiào (to-sleep-a-sleep).

取之不尽用之不竭的煤炭qǔ zhī bú jìn yòng zhī bù jié de méitàn
An inexhaustible supply of coal

取之不尽用之不竭的钱qǔ zhī bù jìn yòng zhī bù jié de qián
An endless supply of money

这几条河有取之不尽的鱼类资源zhè jǐ tiáo hé yǒu qǔ zhī bù jìn de yú lèi zīyuán。
These rivers have an inexhaustible supply of fish.

对于国外的人们而言，我们国家的财富似乎取之不尽用之不竭duìyú guówài de rénmen ér yán, wǒmen guójiā de cáifù sìhū qǔ zhī bù jìn yòng zhī bù jié。
The wealth of our country seems inexhaustible to many people abroad.

When summarizing a statement or argument you can conclude with 总而言之 zǒng’éryánzhī (sum-up-and-express-it) or the simplified version总之 zǒngzhī (sum-up-it), which means “in short” or “in a word.” Finally, another word that contains 之 as an object pronoun is 反之 fǎnzhī (reverse-it) translated as “on the contrary” or “conversely.” This can be used when you want to present a counterpoint to something you said before. It sounds very formal, so it’s best for speeches or written compositions.

总之，天下没有免费的午餐zǒngzhī, tiānxià méiyǒu miǎnfèi de wǔcān。
In short, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

总之，你们的价值观念究竟是什么zǒngzhī, nǐmen de jiàzhí guānniàn jiūjìng shì shénme？
What, in short, are your values now?

总之，就是使用用户自己的语言zǒngzhī, jiùshì shǐyòng yònghù zìjǐ de yǔyán。
In short, speak the language of your users.

Specific Period of Time

• 一天以内yìtiān yǐnèi                 一天之内yìtiān zhī nèi               within a day
• 一个星期以内yígè xīngqí yǐnèi         一个星期之内yígè xīngqí zhī nèi       within a week
• 一个月以内yígè yuè yǐnèi             一个月之内yígè yuè zhī nèi           within a month
• 一个小时以内 yígè xiǎoshí yǐnèi         一个小时之内yígè xiǎoshí zhī nèi      within an hour
• 两天以内liǎng tiān yǐnèi               两天之内liǎng tiān zhī nèi          within two days