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文章 (wén zhāng) — article, essay, literary work; hidden meaning (in a figurative sense, e.g., 话里有文章)

Definition

Most commonly means 'article / essay / written piece' — the everyday word for any composition, paired with 篇 or 段. In set phrases like 话里有文章 it shifts to mean hidden meaning, like 含义 but used in figurative contexts.

noun
articleessayliterary workhidden meaning (in a figurative sense, e.g., 话里有文章)
Measure word · 篇, 段, 页

Examples

  • 文章。
    Wǒ zuó tiān xiě le yì piān guān yú huán bǎo de wén zhāng.
    I wrote an article about environmental protection yesterday.
  • 文章。
    Tā de huà lǐ sì hū yǒu wén zhāng.
    There seems to be hidden meaning in his words.
  • 文章。
    Zhè běn zá zhì de měi piān wén zhāng dōu hěn yǒu shēn dù.
    Every article in this magazine is very insightful.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

文wénwriting
章zhāngsection

文 (writing) and 章 (section) together form the idea of a composition.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The current form 文 shows a man with head, arms, legs, and chest; the tattoo marks on the chest are no longer drawn.

Open 文 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

章 shows a chisel piercing a piece of jade in the middle. It originally meant treating jade.

Open 章 →
Appears in
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