主席

• Pinyin: zhǔ xí
• Hanzi breakdown: 主 = master/head; 席 = 广 (shelter) + 巾 (cloth), a mat or seat of authority

Meaning

Chairperson; chairman. The head of a committee, organisation, or state.

Used for the leader of a committee (委员会主席), a political body, or a country's head of state (国家主席). In China, 主席 is the most prestigious title for the head of state. Also used in corporate governance: 董事会主席 (chairman of the board). The title is formal and always used with proper nouns or titles.

Examples

1. 他刚刚被选为学生会主席，感到非常荣幸。 He was just elected as student union president and feels very honoured.
2. 公司董事会主席在年度大会上发表了重要讲话。 The chairman of the company's board of directors gave an important speech at the annual general meeting.
3. 联合国大会主席主持了这次紧急会议。 The UN General Assembly president presided over this emergency meeting.

Usage Guide

Context: politics, business, academia

Tone: respectful

Do Say

• 会议由委员会主席亲自主持。(The meeting was presided over by the committee chairperson in person.)
• 他担任这个协会主席已经超过十年了。(He has served as chairperson of this association for more than ten years.)

Don't Say

• 用'主席'来称呼普通会议的主持人 (Don't use 主席 for someone simply chairing a regular meeting — use 主持人 or 主持 for meeting facilitators; 主席 implies a formal position of leadership in an organisation)

Origin & History

From 主 (master/head) and 席 (seat/mat, 广 shelter + 巾 cloth — a seat of authority), literally 'the person seated at the head of the table'.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal