 | Pinyin | guó (second tone) |
| English | country; kingdom | |
| Sounds like 'gwo' | ||
Originally the character was the character for a 'region' within an enclosed box or border, now the simpler character for jade (a highly prized stone) has replaced the 'region' part. Most countries are just a combination of one character and 'guo' as in zhongguo (China), yingguo (U.K.) and meiguo (America).
| zhōng | guó | rén | |
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| middle | kingdom | person | = Chinese person |
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