東亞病夫 dōng yà bìng fū

DEFINITIONS

  1. (derog.) the sick man of Asia (term used in the West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to China in its weakened state after the Opium Wars)

CHARACTERS

東 dōng east, eastern, eastward
亞 yà Asia; second; used as a prefix to names
病 bìng
HSK 2
illness, sickness, disease
夫 fū
HSK 2
man, male adult, husband; those