斯文

Chinese

		phonetic; this	language; culture; writing language; culture; writing; formal; literary; gentle
simp. and trad. (斯文)		斯	文

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sīwén

  (Zhuyin): ㄙ ㄨㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): si¹ man⁴

• Gan (Wiktionary): si¹ un
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sṳ̂-vùn
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): su-bûn / sir-bûn

  (Teochew, Peng'im): se¹ bhung⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sīwén → sīwen (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄙ ㄨㄣˊ → ㄙ ˙ㄨㄣ (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sihwůn
    • Wade–Giles: ssŭ¹-wên⁵
    • Yale: sz̄-wen
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sy.wen
    • Palladius: сывэнь (syvɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁵⁵ wən³⁵/ → /sz̩⁵⁵ wən²/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: si¹ man⁴
    • Yale: sī màhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: si¹ man⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: xi¹ men⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siː⁵⁵ mɐn²¹/
• Gan
  • (Nanchang)
    • Wiktionary: si¹ un
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁴² un²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sṳ̂-vùn
    • Hakka Romanization System: sii´ vunˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: si¹ vun²
    • Sinological IPA: /sɨ²⁴ vun¹¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: su-bûn
    • Tâi-lô: su-bûn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: su'buun
    • IPA (Xiamen): /su⁴⁴⁻²² bun²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /su⁴⁴⁻³³ bun²³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /su⁴⁴⁻²² bun¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /su⁴⁴⁻³³ bun²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sir-bûn
    • Tâi-lô: sir-bûn
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /sɯ³³ bun²⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: se¹ bhung⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: sṳ bûng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɯ³³⁻²³ buŋ⁵⁵/

Adjective

斯文

1. gentle; refined; courteous; polite

   女仔要斯文啲 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   neoi⁵ zai² jiu³ si¹ man⁴ di¹ [Jyutping]

   girls need to be refined

Synonyms

• 優美／优美 (yōuměi) (of music, scenery)
• 典雅 (diǎnyǎ)
• 古雅 (gǔyǎ)
• 嫻／娴 (xián) (literary, or in compounds)
• 嫻靜／娴静 (xiánjìng)
• 幽美 (yōuměi) (literary, of an environment)
• 彬 (bīn) (literary, or in compounds)
• 彬彬 (bīnbīn) (literary)
• 文雅 (wényǎ)
• 文靜／文静 (wénjìng)
• 斯文胎胎 (si¹ wen² tai¹ tai¹) (Sichuanese)
• 斯斯文文 (sīsīwénwén)
• 柔美 (róuměi) (of music, scenery)
• 酥巧 (Xiamen Hokkien)
• 雅相 (ia³ sian⁴) (Xiang)
• 雅緻／雅致 (yǎzhì)
• 高尚 (gāoshàng)
• 高雅 (gāoyǎ)

 

Antonyms

• 低下 (dīxià)
• 低俗 (dīsú)
• 低級／低级 (dījí)
• 俗氣／俗气 (súqì)
• 俗骨 (zuk⁶ gwat¹) (Cantonese)
• 傖俗／伧俗 (cāngsú) (formal)
• 卑俗 (bēisú)
• 庸俗 (yōngsú)
• 鄙俗 (bǐsú)
• 鄙吝 (bǐlìn) (literary)

 

Derived terms

• 斯文人
• 斯斯文文 (sīsīwénwén)

 

Noun

斯文

1. (literary) scholar; literati
2. (literary) elegance; refinement
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see 斯 (sī),‎ 文.
   1. (literary) this text

      • 後之攬者，亦將有感於斯文。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
        后之揽者，亦将有感于斯文。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

        From: 353 CE, Wang Xizhi, Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion

        Hòu zhī lǎn zhě, yì jiāng yǒu gǎn yú sī wén. [Pinyin]

        For the people who read this in future generations, perhaps you will likewise be moved by this text.

Derived terms

• 斯文委地
• 斯文掃地／斯文扫地
• 斯文敗類／斯文败类