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文化 (wén huà) — culture; civilization

Definition

文化 (wénhuà) means 'culture' in the everyday sense — the customs, arts, and way of life of a country or group. 文明 is more about 'civilization' as a stage of human development, or 'civilized' as a quality.

noun
culturecivilization
Measure word · 个, 种

Examples

  • 文化。
    Wǒ xǐ huan xué xí bù tóng guó jiā de wén huà.
    I like learning about the cultures of different countries.
  • 文化。
    wén huà Duì yí gè guó jiā lái shuō hěn zhòng yào.
    Culture is very important to a country.
  • 文化。
    Měi gè guó jiā dōu yǒu zì jǐ de wén huà.
    Every country has its own culture.

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wénculture; literature
化huàchange; transform

文 and 化 together name the customs, learning, and change of a people.

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.

化 shows two person figures, one upright and one upside down, to give the idea of reversal or change.

Open 化 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3HSK 2.0 Level 3Abstract Concepts5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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