Definition
断后 is a separable verb (离合词) with two distinct meanings. In military or group movement contexts, it means 'to bring up the rear' or 'act as rear guard'. In family lineage, it means 'to have no descendants', a culturally significant concept in traditional Chinese thinking where continuing the family line is highly valued. Because it is a verb-object compound, you can insert other elements between 断 and 后, such as 断了后 to indicate that the line has been cut off.
v.o.
to bring up the rearto act as rear guardto have no descendantsto be the last generation of a family
Examples
- ，断后。Wǒmen pái hǎo duì, yóu tā fùzé duàn hòu.We formed a line, and he was responsible for bringing up the rear.
- ，。Tāmen yì jiā sān dài dān chuán, dào tā jiù duàn le hòu.His family had only one child per generation for three generations, and with him the line ended.
- 断后。Lǎo Zhāng fēicháng dānxīn zìjǐ huì duàn hòu.Old Zhang is very worried that he will have no descendants.
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