huǒ jiàn
rocket; fire arrow
中国的第一颗人造地球卫星是东方红一号，由长征一号火箭发射升空。
Zhōngguó de dì yī kē rénzào dìqiú wèixīng shì dōngfāng hóng yī hào, yóu chángzhēng yī hào huǒjiàn fāshè shēngkōng.
China's first artificial Earth satellite, Dongfanghong I, was launched by the Long March 1 rocket.
神舟五号载人飞船由长征二号F火箭发射升空。
Shénzhōu wǔ hào zàirén fēichuán yóu chángzhēng èr hào F huǒjiàn fāshè shēngkōng.
The Shenzhou V manned spacecraft was launched by the Long March 2F rocket.
天宫一号目标飞行器由长征二号丙火箭发射升空。
Tiāngōng yī hào mùbiāo fēixíngqì yóu chángzhēng èr hào bǐng huǒjiàn fāshè shēngkōng.
The Tiangong-1 target spacecraft was launched by the Long March 2C rocket.
火箭炮 (huǒ jiàn pào)
rocket launcher
宇宙飞船 (yǔ zhòu fēi chuán)
spaceship
导弹 (dǎo dàn)
missile
飞机 (fēi jī)
airplane
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The Chinese word 火箭 (huǒjiàn) for "rocket" is a compound of two characters: 火 (huǒ), meaning "fire", and 箭 (jiàn), meaning "arrow". The term "rocket" was first used in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), when it was used to describe a type of firework that propelled itself into the air using gunpowder. The term was later adopted by the Chinese military to describe a type of weapon that used gunpowder to propel a projectile. The term "rocket" is still used in Chinese today to describe both fireworks and military weapons.
