gōng kāi
open; overt; to make public
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这个消息已经公开了。
Zhège xīxī yǐjīng gōngkāi le.
This news has been made public.
他公开承认了自己的错误。
Tā gōngkāi ch chéngrén le zìjǐ de cuòwù.
He publicly admitted his mistake.
这个文件是公开的，任何人都可以查阅。
Zhège wénjiàn shì gōngkāi de, rènhé rén dōu kěyǐ cháyuè.
This document is public, and anyone can access it.
公开发表 (gōngkāi fābiǎo)
publish openly
公开展示 (gōngkāi zhǎnshì)
display publicly
秘密 (mìmì)
secret
私下 (sīxià)
private
The Chinese word 公开 (gōngkāi) is composed of two characters: 公 (gōng) and 开 (kāi). The character 公 originally meant "common" or "public," and was often used in contrast to 私 (sī), which meant "private." Over time, the meaning of 公 expanded to include the ideas of "fairness," "justice," and "openness." The character 开 originally meant "to open" or "to begin," and was often used in contrast to 关 (guān), which meant "to close" or "to end." Over time, the meaning of 开 expanded to include the ideas of "to develop" or "to progress."When the two characters 公 and 开 are combined, they form the word 公开, which literally means "to open to the public" or "to make public." In modern Chinese, 公开 is used in a variety of contexts to mean "public," "open," or "transparent." For example, 公开场合 (gōngkāi chǎnghé) means "public place," 公开信 (gōngkāi xìn) means "open letter," and 公开课 (gōngkāi kè) means "open course."
