风雅 (fēng yā) — (noun) elegance, refinement; literary and artistic pursuits

Definition

风雅 (fēngyǎ) refers to cultivated elegance — refined taste in arts like calligraphy, music, and tea, often used to praise a person's cultured lifestyle or a setting's classical charm.

noun
elegancerefinementliterary and artistic pursuits

Examples

  • 风雅，。
    Zhè wèi lǎo xiān sheng yì shēng zhuī qiú fēng yā, qín qí shū huà yàng yàng jīng tōng.
    This old gentleman pursued refinement all his life, mastering music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
  • 风雅，。
    Tā de shū fáng bù zhì dé hěn yǒu fēng yā, chōng mǎn le shū xiāng qì xī.
    His study is decorated with great elegance, full of the atmosphere of books.
  • 风雅。
    Zhè zhǒng chá dào biǎo yǎn tǐ xiàn le zhōng guó chuán tǒng de fēng yā.
    This tea ceremony performance embodies traditional Chinese refinement.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

风fēngthe folk songs of the Book of Songs
雅yǎthe court hymns of the Book of Songs

风 and 雅, the folk songs and court hymns of the Book of Songs, together name cultured elegance.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuīa short-tailed bird
Sound part声符shēngfú
牙
牙yá雅yǎ
Same sound today

雅 pairs 隹, a short-tailed bird, with 牙 as its sound part; the bird was a rook/crow, and the sense was extended to refined.

Open 雅 →

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