童话

• Pinyin: tóng huà
• Hanzi breakdown: 童 = 立(stand) + 里 (village, phonetic); 话 = 讠(speech) + 舌 (tongue)

Meaning

Fairy tale; a children's story featuring magic, fantasy, or moral lessons.

Refers to traditional or literary fairy tales, both Chinese and Western. Famous examples include stories by Andersen and the Brothers Grimm as well as classical Chinese tales. 童话故事 (fairy-tale story) is a common extended form. Also used figuratively for an idealistic or unrealistic scenario.

Examples

1. 白雪公主的故事是世界上最著名的童话之一。 The story of Snow White is one of the most famous fairy tales in the world.
2. 奶奶每天晚上给孙子讲一个不同的童话故事。 Grandma tells her grandson a different fairy tale every evening.
3. 他喜欢把普通的生活写成童话，让人感受到美好。 He likes to write about ordinary life as if it were a fairy tale, making people feel the beauty in it.

Usage Guide

Context: education, family, literature

Tone: warm

Do Say

• 这本书收录了很多经典的中国童话。(This book contains many classic Chinese fairy tales.)
• 孩子最喜欢听睡前童话了。(Children love listening to bedtime fairy tales.)

Don't Say

• 把复杂的现实事件称为童话 — 可能有讽刺意味，暗示某事不切实际。(Calling a real complex event a 童话 can be sarcastic, implying it is unrealistically ideal.)

Origin & History

Compound of 童 (child) and 话 (story/talk). Literally 'children's tale.' The term became standard in modern Chinese partly through translations of Western fairy tales in the early 20th century.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal