Meaning & readings
sentence, literature, style, art, decoration, figures, plan, literary radical (no. 67)
On’yomi ブン、モン
Kun’yomi ふみ、あや
Nanori かざり、ふ、も
Origin
This character most likely pictures a person's chest or torso with a pattern or mark on it. The top part represents the shoulders or upper body, while the bottom part shows a crossed or decorated pattern. In ancient China, patterns and marks on clothing or skin were signs of culture, refinement, and artistic decoration. Over time, the character came to mean not just physical patterns and decorations, but also the patterns of language itself — sentences, written words, and literature. This is why the character now represents both visual beauty and the written word.
Components
- 亠
- 乂
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 4
- Kangxi radical
- 67
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 1 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #190 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 3
- Unicode
- U+06587