Reading is such an integral part of our daily lives, that it almost has become something we do unconsciously. We read street signs, food packaging, posters, without a second thought; let alone reading or studying books or articles in a more intentional way. With it being such an integral part of our life, it seems fitting to learn the Chinese word for “read or study”: 读
Pronunciation
读 is pronounced dú.
Meaning
读（dú）The original meaning of the word “read” is to read according to the word. The left side of the glyph is speech, which means that “reading” is related to speech; the right side is “selling”, which means that you have to open your mouth when reading, just like when selling. Now, “reading”, “reading out”, “reading aloud”, etc. all follow the original meaning of the word “reading”. The word “reading” also refers to going to school and studying.
Example：
读书（dú shū）
It means studying.
Eg. I studied at Hebrew university.
我在希伯来大学读书。
读万卷书, 行万里路（dú wàn juàn shū，xínɡ wàn lǐ lù）
Literally, It means to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles. Idiomatically, it means that knowledge comes from books and from experiencing the world.
Recent Comments