古文
gǔ wén
Pinyin

Definition

古文
 - 
gǔ wén
  1. old language
  2. the Classics
  3. Classical Chinese as a literary model, esp. in Tang and Song prose
  4. Classical Chinese as a school subject

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

中文
Zhōng wén
  1. 1 Chinese language
博文
bó wén
  1. 1 blog article
  2. 2 to write a blog article (netspeak)
原文
yuán wén
  1. 1 original text
古
Gǔ
  1. 1 surname Gu
古代
gǔ dài
  1. 1 ancient times
  2. 2 olden times
文
Wén
  1. 1 surname Wen
文化
wén huà
  1. 1 culture
  2. 2 civilization
  3. 3 cultural
  4. 4 CL:個|个[gè],種|种[zhǒng]
文字
wén zì
  1. 1 character
  2. 2 script
  3. 3 writing
  4. 4 written language
  5. 5 writing style
  6. 6 phraseology
  7. 7 CL:個|个[gè]
文章
wén zhāng
  1. 1 article
  2. 2 essay
  3. 3 literary works
  4. 4 writings
  5. 5 hidden meaning
  6. 6 CL:篇[piān],段[duàn],頁|页[yè]
文艺
wén yì
  1. 1 literature and art
英文
Yīng wén
  1. 1 English (language)
一文不值
yī wén bù zhí
  1. 1 worthless (idiom)
  2. 2 no use whatsoever
三文鱼
sān wén yú
  1. 1 salmon (loanword)
亘古
gèn gǔ
  1. 1 throughout time
  2. 2 from ancient times (up to the present)
人文
rén wén
  1. 1 humanities
  2. 2 human affairs
  3. 3 culture
作文
zuò wén
  1. 1 to write an essay
  2. 2 composition (student essay)
  3. 3 CL:篇[piān]
内蒙古
Nèi měng gǔ
  1. 1 Inner Mongolia
  2. 2 abbr. for 內蒙古自治區|内蒙古自治区[Nèi měng gǔ Zì zhì qū], Inner Mongolia autonomous region
全文
quán wén
  1. 1 entire text
  2. 2 full text
分文
fēn wén
  1. 1 a single penny
  2. 2 a single cent
千古
qiān gǔ
  1. 1 for all eternity
  2. 2 throughout all ages

Idioms (20)

一失足成千古恨
yī shī zú chéng qiān gǔ hèn
  1. 1 a single slip may cause everlasting sorrow (idiom)
一文不值
yī wén bù zhí
  1. 1 worthless (idiom)
  2. 2 no use whatsoever
一纸空文
yī zhǐ kōng wén
  1. 1 a worthless piece of paper (idiom)
不值一文
bù zhí yī wén
  1. 1 worthless (idiom)
  2. 2 no use whatsoever
亘古不变
gèn gǔ bù biàn
  1. 1 unchanging since times immemorial (idiom)
  2. 2 unalterable
  3. 3 unvarying
  4. 4 monotonous
人心不古
rén xīn bù gǔ
  1. 1 the men of today are sadly degenerated (idiom)
借古讽今
jiè gǔ fěng jīn
  1. 1 to use the past to disparage the present (idiom)
前不见古人，后不见来者
qián bù jiàn gǔ rén , hòu bù jiàn lái zhě
  1. 1 unique
  2. 2 unprecedented (idiom)
千古罪人
qiān gǔ zuì rén
  1. 1 sb condemned by history (idiom)
千古遗恨
qiān gǔ yí hèn
  1. 1 to have eternal regrets (idiom)
博文约礼
bó wén yuē lǐ
  1. 1 vigorously pursuing knowledge, while scrupulously abiding by the rules of decorum (idiom)
厚古薄今
hòu gǔ bó jīn
  1. 1 to revere the past and neglect the present (idiom)
古今中外
gǔ jīn zhōng wài
  1. 1 at all times and in all places (idiom)
咬文嚼字
yǎo wén jiáo zì
  1. 1 to bite words and chew characters (idiom); punctilious about minutiae of wording
奇文共赏
qí wén gòng shǎng
  1. 1 lit. remarkable work appreciated by all (idiom); universally praised (original meaning)
  2. 2 incomprehensible nonsense
  3. 3 preposterous bullshit
彪炳千古
biāo bǐng qiān gǔ
  1. 1 to shine through the ages (idiom)
才兼文武
cái jiān wén wǔ
  1. 1 talent in both military and civil field (idiom)
文不加点
wén bù jiā diǎn
  1. 1 to write a flawless essay in one go (idiom)
  2. 2 to be quick-witted and skilled at writing compositions
文人相轻
wén rén xiāng qīng
  1. 1 scholars tend to disparage one another (idiom)
文如其人
wén rú qí rén
  1. 1 the writing style mirrors the writer (idiom)

Sample Sentences

最近我才发现，困扰我许久的问题，都可以在古文中找到答案呢，让我豁然开朗。
zuìjìn wǒ cái fāxiàn ，kūnrǎo wǒ xǔjiǔ de wèntí ，dōu kěyǐ zài gǔwén zhōng zhǎodào dá àn ne ，ràng wǒ huòránkāilǎng 。
Recently I discovered that I can find answers to things that have been troubling me for a while in ancient texts, which makes everything suddenly become clear.
Go to Lesson 
古文是古代的书面语。里面有很多“之”“乎”“者”“也”。现代文都不用了。
gǔwén shì gǔdài de shūmiànyǔ 。lǐmiàn yǒu hěn duō “zhī ”“hū ”“zhě ”“yě ”。xiàndàiwén dōu bù yòng le 。
Classical Chinese is ancient written language. There's lots of “zhī”, “hū”, “zhě” and “yě” in it. Modern written language doesn't use them.
Go to Lesson 
古文是古代人说的话吗？
gǔwén shì gǔdài rén shuō de huà ma ？
Is classical Chinese what people a long time ago spoke?
Go to Lesson 
我在背古文。
wǒ zài bèi gǔwén 。
I'm memorizing classical Chinese.
Go to Lesson 
者……也”，比如Tom是外国人，古文就会写“Tom者，外国人也”。
zhě ……yě ”，bǐrú Tom shì wàiguórén ，gǔwén jiù huì xiě “Tom zhě ，wàiguórén yě ”。
As for “Zhě... yě”, for example: Tom is a foreigner. In classical Chinese you would write “Tom zhě, foreigner yě”.
Go to Lesson 
哈哈！有意思。那古文和现代文还有什么不一样的？
hāhā ！yǒu yìsi 。nà gǔwén hé xiàndàiwén hái yǒu shénme bù yīyàng de ？
Haha! That's interesting. Then what else is different about classical Chinese and modern Chinese?
Go to Lesson 
挺多的。用的词不一样，古文一个字常常有好几种意思。语法也有很多不一样的地方。
tǐng duō de 。yòng de cí bù yīyàng ，gǔwén yī gè zì chángcháng yǒu hǎo jǐ zhǒng yìsi 。yǔfǎ yě yǒu hěn duō bù yīyàng de dìfang 。
There's a lot. Word usage is different. In classical Chinese, one word often has many different meanings. The grammar is also very different in many aspects.
Go to Lesson 
那你们都要学古文吗？
nà nǐmen dōu yào xué gǔwén ma ？
Then do you have to study classical Chinese?
Go to Lesson 
学。要翻译成现代文，还要考试。行了，不跟你说了，我要赶快背会这篇古文。快期中考试了！
xué 。yào fānyì chéng xiàndàiwén ，hái yào kǎoshì 。xíng le ，bù gēn nǐ shuō le ，wǒ yào gǎnkuài bèihuì zhè piān gǔwén 。kuài qīzhōngkǎoshì le ！
Yeah. You have to translate it into modern Chinese and take a test. That's enough, I can't talk anymore. I need to memorize this classical Chinese. The mid-terms are coming up soon.
Go to Lesson 
古文，文言文
gǔwén ，wényánwén
Classical Chinese, classical style of writing.
Go to Lesson