漢字Kanji · in Animals & Wildlife
文: sentence, literature
Also: style, art, decoration, figures, plan, literary radical (no. 67)
- 亠lid(form)
- 乂(form)
亠 and 乂 are drawn in
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Shang Small seal · Qin Today
Oracle bone, bronze and small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Three readings, and the words that use each
ブンbun · on'yomi · in compounds
- 文法ぶんぽうgrammar
- 文章ぶんしょうsentence
- 文学ぶんがくliterature
- 文化ぶんかculture
- 文明ぶんめいcivilization
- 文庫本ぶんこぼんpaperback
- 文房具ぶんぼうぐstationery
- 論文ろんぶんthesis
- 文通するぶんつうするcorrespond, exchange letters
モンmon · on'yomi
- 文部省もんぶしょうMinistry of Education
- 文句もんくphrase, complaint
ふみfumi · kun'yomi · on its own
- 恋文こいぶみlove-letter
Also read あや, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Ideogram (指事)
A man with a painted or tattooed chest – original form of 紋. The tattoo was usually a cross, a V shape or a stylized heart.
Source: Wiktionary, 文 (rev. 93748235), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“The base kanji for all things written—representing the very essence of language, culture, and documented thought.”
Connections
Also read ブン
3 kanji share this on'yomiAlso read モン
4 kanji share this on'yomiIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · wén
Same form: 文 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 文 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 文 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin wén most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.