Chinese word

文物

Pronunciation

Pinyinwén wù

Meaning

  • nouncultural relic

Example

这个博物馆有很多文物。zhè ge bó wù guǎn yǒu hěn duō wén wù

This museum has many cultural relics.

Illustration for 文物 (cultural relic)

More examples

这些文物需要温湿度控制以确保长期保存。zhè xiē wén wù xū yào wēn shī dù kòng zhì yǐ què bǎo cháng qī bǎo cún

These cultural relics need temperature and humidity control to ensure long-term preservation.

Core concept

Material remains of the past valued as evidence of a community's history and cultural life.

Common phrases

  • 古代文物gǔ dài wén wù

    ancient cultural relics

  • 珍贵的文物zhēn guì de wén wù

    precious cultural relics

  • 国家级文物guó jiā jí wén wù

    national-level cultural relics

Similar words

文化遗产wén huà yí chǎn: An object or tradition preserved as part of a people's history and passed to future generations.
遗物yí wù: An object surviving from an earlier age that helps reveal the past.
古物gǔ wù: A general term for an old object with a long history.

Definition in Chinese

泛指在历史发展过程中遗留下来、能反映社会生活与文化特征并具有保存价值的有形遗物或器具。fàn zhǐ zài lì shǐ fā zhǎn guò chéng zhōng yí liú xià lái néng fǎn yìng shè huì shēng huó yǔ wén huà tè zhēng bìng jù yǒu bǎo cún jià zhí de yǒu xíng yí wù huò qì jù

Word origin

文 (wén, "culture and writing") + 物 (wù, "thing") joins culture with a material thing, giving the compound its focus on physical evidence from history.

Usage tips

  • The category includes ordinary-looking tools as well as famous treasures, because historical evidence matters more than beauty or rarity.

Other meanings

  • cultural heritagenoun
  • artifactnoun

Related words

  • 文物展览wén wù zhán lǎncultural relic exhibitionnoun
  • 文物保护wén wù bǎo hùcultural relic protectionnoun
  • 文物修复wén wù xiū fùcultural relic restorationnoun

Word lists with this word