封建

• Pinyin: fēng jiàn
• Hanzi breakdown: 封 = 土 + 寸 (earth + measure — to demarcate and grant territory); 建 = 廴 + 聿 (walk + brush — to establish/build)

Meaning

Feudal; pertaining to feudalism. In modern usage, also describes outdated, patriarchal, or oppressively traditional attitudes and social structures.

Historically refers to the Chinese feudal system of enfeoffment (分封制). In contemporary colloquial usage, 封建 often functions as a pejorative label for patriarchal, hierarchical, or backward-looking attitudes, particularly regarding gender roles, family authority, and resistance to change.

Examples

1. 五四运动的先驱们致力于彻底打破封建礼教对人们思想的束缚。 Pioneers of the May Fourth Movement worked to completely break the ideological constraints of feudal ethics and rituals.
2. 在一些偏远地区，封建迷信活动依然对当地居民的生活产生着深刻影响。 In some remote areas, feudal superstitious practices still have a profound impact on local residents’ lives.
3. 她的父母思想封建，坚决反对她独自出国留学。 Her parents are very traditional and firmly opposed her studying abroad on her own.

Usage Guide

Context: history, social critique, gender, culture

Tone: critical

Do Say

• 批判封建糟粕并不意味着否定传统文化中的一切，而是要去粗取精，传承其中的精华。(Criticising feudal dross does not mean negating all of traditional culture; rather, it means discarding the coarse and retaining the fine.)
• 她认为，强制要求女性婚后冠夫姓是一种封建思维的延续，理应受到质疑。(She believes that forcing women to take their husband's surname after marriage is a continuation of feudal thinking that should be questioned.)

Don't Say

• 封建是好的 — in modern Chinese, 封建 used without historical qualification reads as unambiguously pejorative; for neutral historical discussion add 历史上的封建制度

Origin & History

封 (to enfeoff/seal/grant territory) + 建 (to establish/build) — referring to the system of granting lands and titles

Cultural Context

Era: Historical

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal