文 (wén) - writing, literature, culture, language, civil (as opposed to

文Tone 2

wén ｜ 4 strokes ｜ radical: 文

万响

文 · wén

writing, literature, culture, language, civil (as opposed to military), gentle, refined

writing, literature, culture, language, civil (as opposed to

Usage highlights

Chinese languagearticle/essaycultureliteraturecivilizationdocument

Synonyms

  • 字— character, word
  • 章— chapter, writing
  • 书— book, writing

Antonyms

  • 武— military, martial
  • 野— wild, uncivilized

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • I study Chinese language and literature (中文).
  • She writes an essay (文章).
  • He is a cultured person (文人).
  • This is cultural heritage (文化遗产).

Collocations

  • Chinese language(中文)
  • article/essay(文章)
  • culture(文化)
  • literature(文学)
  • civilization(文明)
  • document(文件)

Idioms

  • Wen Zhi Bin Bin (文质彬彬) - elegant and refined in manner
  • Wen Wu Shuang Quan (文武双全) - versed in both civil and military arts
  • fluent writing(Wen Bu Jia Dian (文不加点) - write without the need for corrections)
  • Yi Dai Wen Zong (一代文宗) - a leading literary figure of the time

Cultural background

FAQ
  • One of the most fundamental characters in Chinese culture, representing the civil aspects of society as opposed to military (武).
  • Historically associated with literacy, scholarship, and bureaucratic administration.
  • The character itself depicts patterns or markings, originally referring to decorative patterns and later extended to written words.

FAQ