Zhongnanhai

See also: Zhong Nan Hai and Zhōngnánhǎi

English

Zhongnanhai in 1967

Xinhuamen, the south gate of Zhongnanhai, with the slogan "Serve the People"

Alternative forms

• Zhong Nan Hai (proscribed)
• Chungnanhai, Chung-nan-hai, Chung Nan Hai (obs.)

Etymology

The atonal Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 中南海 (Zhōngnánhǎi, “Central South Sea”), a compound of the names 中海 (zhōnghǎi, “Central Sea”) + 南海 (Nánhǎi, “South Sea; Nanhai”), two lakes in central Beijing just west of the Forbidden City.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌd͡ʒʊŋ.nɑnˈhaɪ/, enPR: jo͝ongʹnänʹhīʹ

Proper noun

Zhongnanhai

1. An area in Xicheng district, Beijing, China housing the government leaders of the People's Republic of China.
   • 1989 June 4, Daniel Southerl, “TROOPS ROLL THROUGH BEIJING TO CRUSH PROTESTERS”, in The Washington Post‎^[1], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 April 2023:

     A second tear-gas attack, combined with a violent nightstick attack on demonstrators, occurred about an hour later in front of the Communist Party headquarters at Zhongnanhai.

   • 1998, George H. W. Bush, Brent Scowcroft, “Untying a Knot”, in A World Transformed‎^[2], New York: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 86–87:

     Many of Beijing’s most important buildings sit near or alongside the square, including the Great Hall of the People, the Forbidden City, and Zhongnanhai, the compound in which many of the People’s Republic’s most senior leaders live.

   • 2009 April 27, Andrew Jacobs, “China Still Presses Crusade Against Falun Gong”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 February 2011, Asia Pacific‎^[4]:

     The decision to ban the group entirely was made after 10,000 Falun Gong adherents staged a silent protest outside the gates of Zhongnanhai, the Communist Party’s leadership compound in Beijing, to complain about reports in the state-run media that the group said were defamatory.

   • 2010, George W. Bush, Decision Points‎^[5], →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 429:

     In an extraordinary gesture of generosity, President Hu hosted a lunch for us all at the government’s Zhongnanhai Compound, a Bush family reunion like none before or since.

   • 2021 August 11, Andrew Galbraith, “Analysis: China regulatory storm tests nerves, limits of top-down policy”, in Reuters‎^[6], archived from the original on 11 August 2021:

     A popular saying when Xi's predecessor Hu Jintao was in power was: "Policies do not go beyond Zhongnanhai," the leadership compound in central Beijing.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Zhongnanhai.
2. (metonymically) The government of the People's Republic of China; the central leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
   • 2001, “May 6-16: Hunger Strike”, in The Tiananmen Papers‎^[7], →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 172–173:

     On May 15 Zhongnanhai received reports on the student movement in fourteen provinces. […]
     Twenty foreign press reports of May 15 were summarized for Zhongnanhai.

   • 2006, Shiping Tang, “Projecting China's Foreign Policy: Determining Factors and Scenarios”, in Jae Ho Chung, editor, Charting China's Future: Political, Social, and International Dimensions‎^[8], Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, China / Politics, page 136:

     Although it may be premature to take the passing of “peaceful rise” as a turning point, it does appear that it is getting increasingly difficult for Zhongnanhai to pronounce a policy with a catchy label and then expect the whole policy and scholarly communities to follow (although many scholars will just follow it for various reasons), especially if the policy really matters. The good old days when the Politburo could set a policy and expect everyone just to fall into line seem to be gone. Today, it seems that Zhongnanhai needs some acquiescence from society in order to proceed with its priority policy package.

   • 2018, Xi Jinping, The Governance of China‎^[9], volume II, Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 208:

     Zhongnanhai must be directly connected with the people, and we should always keep the people in our thoughts.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Zhongnanhai.

Synonyms

• (gov't of China): Beijing, Peking

Related terms

• Beihai

Translations

area

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 中南海 (zh) (Zhōngnánhǎi)

• Japanese: please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• Zhongnanhai, Chungnanhai, Zhong Nan Hai, Chung-nan-hai, Chung Nan Hai at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.