dāng dài
the present age; the contemporary era
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当代社会，人们的生活节奏越来越快。
Dāngdài shèhuì, rénmen de shēnghuó jízòu yuè lái yuè kuài.
In contemporary society, people's pace of life is getting faster and faster.
当代艺术是一种新的艺术形式。
Dāngdài yìshù shì yī zhǒng xīn de yìshù xíngshì.
Contemporary art is a new art form.
当代文学反映了当代社会的生活。
Dāngdài wénxué fǎnyìngle dāngdài shèhuì de shēnghuó.
Contemporary literature reflects the life of contemporary society.
现代 (xiàndài)
modern
当代 (dāngdài)
contemporary
古代 (gǔdài)
ancient
现代 (xiàndài)
modern
The Chinese word 当代 (dāngdài) is composed of two characters: 当 (dāng) and 代 (dài). The character 当 originally meant "to face" or "to be opposite to", and later extended to mean "to be in charge of" or "to be responsible for". The character 代 originally meant "to take the place of" or "to substitute for", and later extended to mean "a generation" or "an era". When combined, the two characters 当代 literally mean "the present time" or "the current era". In modern Chinese, 当代 is used to refer to the present time or the current era, as well as to the people or things of the present time. It can also be used to refer to the contemporary period in history, which is generally considered to be the period from the late 18th century to the present day.
