thăng quan
Definition
Verb (obsolete):
- To be promoted in official rank: To rise to a higher grade or position within a traditional mandarin bureaucratic system.
- To advance in office: To receive a promotion in one's official career, typically within a historical or feudal administrative hierarchy.
Noun (historical context):
- A promotion game: A traditional Vietnamese game using four dice, where the outcomes and scoring are based on the ranks and titles of the old mandarin system.
Usage Examples
Verb:
- Nhờ có công lao, ông ấy được thăng quan. (Due to his merits, he was promoted in rank.)
- Trong chế độ phong kiến, việc thăng quan phụ thuộc vào nhiều yếu tố. (In the feudal regime, promotion depended on many factors.)
Noun:
- Trẻ em ngày xưa hay chơi trò thăng quan. (Children in the old days often played the promotion game.)
- Thăng quan là một trò chơi dân gian thú vị. (Thăng quan is an interesting folk game.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is strongly associated with historical and literary contexts, referring to the Confucian-based bureaucratic ladder of pre-modern Vietnam. It is rarely used for modern workplace promotions, where words like "thăng chức" or "được đề bạt" are more common.
Variants and Related Words
Thăng quan tiến chức (idiomatic phrase): To be promoted and advance in rank; to climb the official career ladder.
- Mong ước thăng quan tiến chức của ông ta đã thành hiện thực. (His wish for promotion and advancement became reality.)
Thăng chức (v): The modern, general term for "to promote" or "to get a promotion."
- Cô ấy vừa được thăng chức giám đốc. (She was just promoted to director.)
Synonyms
- To be promoted: To advance to a higher position.
- To rise in rank: To move up the hierarchical ladder.
- To advance: To progress in one's career.
Related Idioms
- Thăng quan tiến chức: As above, this set phrase encapsulates the concept of career advancement within the official hierarchy.
- Một bước thăng quan, hai bước tiến chức: To rise rapidly through the ranks; to be promoted quickly and successively.