<p>It is a title of a project, not a sentence. </p>

<p>「一带一路」」refers to "The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road"</p>

<p>「一带」(the one belt) refers to 「丝绸之路经济<strong>带</strong>」</p>

<p>「一路」(the one road) refers to 「21世纪海上丝绸之<strong>路</strong>」</p>

<p>Both are specific object, therefore the title cannot be just 「带和路」(belts and roads)</p>

<p>Using 「一个地带和一条通路」would be too wordy for a title. Not to mention 「丝绸之路经济带和21世纪海上丝绸之路」</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-26T02:21:18.460Z
Yep, so it's a shortening or abbreviation, essentially - similar to an acronym or initialism in English, except that when you abbreviate in characters, you retain more: a neat demonstration of the power of the Chinese writing system.
The_Sympathizer
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-26T16:01:15.427Z
The key point here, it seems to me, is that the belt and road in question are specific objects.  So you cannot use either 和, as mentioned, or a measure word.
Colin McLarty
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-25T22:12:10.853Z
2019-11-25T22:27:41.333Z
2019-11-25T22:27:41.333Z
Tang Ho
<p>I know that 一带一路 sounds exactly right in Mandarin for Belt and Road.  But is there a general grammatical rule for why this uses 一?     </p>

<p>It really does not mean "one belt, one road," and if you wanted to say that you would use classifiers for 带 and 路.    </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-25T22:19:11.853Z
一国两制 is of similar structure. Chinese use this pattern quite often
sylvia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-26T03:13:59.357Z
一带一路 means 一带**和**一路, 一带**与**一路. You should know that the word **和** or **与** between two words is usually omitted in Chinese language.
xenophōn
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-26T03:17:52.493Z
在对外公文中，统一将“丝绸之路经济带和21世纪海上丝绸之路”的英文全称译为 The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road，“一带一路”简称译为 The Belt and Road，英文缩写用 B&R。在非正式场合，除首次出现时使用英文全称译文外，其简称译法可视情况灵活处理，除可使用 The Belt and Road Initiative 外，也可视情使用 The land and maritime Silk Road initiative。
xenophōn
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-26T06:07:33.863Z
Perhaps there's also a reference to "four-character expressions" (also related: [*chengyu*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengyu))?
Andrew T.
<grammar>
What is the rule behind 一带一路?
# What is the rule behind 一带一路?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-11-25)

I know that 一带一路 sounds exactly right in Mandarin for Belt and Road.  But is there a general grammatical rule for why this uses 一?

It really does not mean "one belt, one road," and if you wanted to say that you would use classifiers for 带 and 路.

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 一国两制 is of similar structure. Chinese use this pattern quite often  
> **username_2**: 一带一路 means 一带**和**一路, 一带**与**一路. You should know that the word **和** or **与** between two words is usually omitted in Chinese language.  
> **username_2**: 在对外公文中，统一将“丝绸之路经济带和21世纪海上丝绸之路”的英文全称译为 The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road，“一带一路”简称译为 The Belt and Road，英文缩写用 B&R。在非正式场合，除首次出现时使用英文全称译文外，其简称译法可视情况灵活处理，除可使用 The Belt and Road Initiative 外，也可视情使用 The land and maritime Silk Road initiative。  
> **username_3**: Perhaps there's also a reference to "four-character expressions" (also related: [*chengyu*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengyu))?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-11-25. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

It is a title of a project, not a sentence.

「一带一路」」refers to "The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road"

「一带」(the one belt) refers to 「丝绸之路经济**带**」

「一路」(the one road) refers to 「21世纪海上丝绸之**路**」

Both are specific object, therefore the title cannot be just 「带和路」(belts and roads)

Using 「一个地带和一条通路」would be too wordy for a title. Not to mention 「丝绸之路经济带和21世纪海上丝绸之路」

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: Yep, so it's a shortening or abbreviation, essentially - similar to an acronym or initialism in English, except that when you abbreviate in characters, you retain more: a neat demonstration of the power of the Chinese writing system.  
> **username_0**: The key point here, it seems to me, is that the belt and road in question are specific objects.  So you cannot use either 和, as mentioned, or a measure word.  

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