zhuangyuan

See also: zhuàngyuán

English

Etymology

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 狀元／状元 (zhuàngyuán).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒwɑːŋ.juˈæn/, /-ɑːn/, /-ɛn/

Noun

zhuangyuan (plural zhuangyuan)

1. (historical) Someone who was ranked first class in the palace examination, the highest level of the Chinese imperial examination.
   • 1998, Ju-hsi Chou, Art at the Close of China's Empire, page 55:

     Another inscriber who not only received the jinshi degree in 1801 but was the first among the equals, or the zhuangyuan, is Gu Gao (1763-1832).

   • 1996, John Lust, Chinese Popular Prints, page 291:

     The system had been launched in the early Tang period, when the zhuangyuan had been first on the list of applicants submitted to the emperor.

2. Someone who places first the in the modern gaokao college entrance examination.