文化

Chinese

Wikipedia has articles on:

• 文化 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
• 文化 (Cantonese)
• vùn-fa (Hakka)
• ùng-huá (Eastern Min)
• bûn-hòa (Southern Min)
• 文化 (Wu)

Etymology

The modern Chinese term is an Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 文化(ぶんか) (bunka, “culture”), which is a direct translation of the German word Kultur.

In its classical form, the term can be interpreted as 文教 (wénjiào, “humanistic education”) + 化育 (huàyù, “transformational development”). Often cited are the following examples:

Humanistic education, based on the tradition of rites and propriety 禮教／礼教 (lǐjiào) have the transformative potential to actualize all under Heaven 人文化成. This is often juxtaposed or contrasted with the use of punishment 刑 (xíng) or military might 武 (wǔ) to establish power and control over a populace, as can be seen in the quote below:

文化 over here is synonymous with 文治 (wénzhì, “governance by means of culture, education, rites and music”). This is not the same as culture in the modern sense of the term.

It is within this classical context that the Japanese first coined the term 文化(ぶんか) (bunka) to name an era during the Edo period.

When used to translate Kultur during the Meiji restoration, 文化(ぶんか) (bunka) is possibly a contraction of 文明開化(ぶんめいかいか) (bunmeikaika, “to open up and transform through civilization”), which takes the meaning of a civilizing agent i.e. Culture.

Pronunciation

Noun

文化

1. (countable, uncountable) culture (Classifier: 個／个; 種／种)

   文化體系／文化体系  ―  wénhuà tǐxì  ―  cultural system

   文化環境／文化环境  ―  wénhuà huánjìng  ―  cultural context

   中華文化／中华文化  ―  zhōnghuá wénhuà  ―  Chinese culture

   公司文化  ―  gōngsī wénhuà  ―  company culture

   本土文化  ―  běntǔ wénhuà  ―  indigenous culture

   燦爛文化／灿烂文化  ―  cànlàn wénhuà  ―  magnificent culture

   文化負載詞／文化负载词  ―  wénhuà fùzǎicí  ―  culturally loaded term

   國家級文化生態保護區 [MSC, trad.]
   国家级文化生态保护区 [MSC, simp.]

   guójiājí wénhuà shēngtài bǎohùqū

   national ecocultural protection area

   開展對外文化交流 [MSC, trad.]
   开展对外文化交流 [MSC, simp.]

   kāizhǎn duìwài wénhuà jiāoliú

   to conduct cultural exchange with other countries

   不同的國家有不同的文化。 [MSC, trad.]
   不同的国家有不同的文化。 [MSC, simp.]

   Bùtóng de guójiā yǒu bùtóng de wénhuà.

   Different countries have different cultures.

2. (uncountable) education; literacy
3. (archaeology, countable) culture (assemblage of artifacts)

   龍山文化／龙山文化  ―  Lóngshān Wénhuà  ―  the Longshan culture

4. (literary, archaic, uncountable) education through teaching morality, literature and music

Usage notes

Like the term "culture" in English, 文化 (wénhuà) can refer to both culture in the sense of a society's arts or customs, as well the attitudes and behaviours of a particular group of people, as in a "company culture". However, 文化 (wénhuà) cannot refer to "culture" in the biological sense; instead the term 培養物／培养物 is used. The verb 培養／培养 (péiyǎng) is to cultivate.

Derived terms

Proper noun

文化

1. (～里) An urban village in Tamsui district, New Taipei, Taiwan
2. (～社區) Wenhua (a residential community in Ruoqiang, Ruoqiang, Bayingolin prefecture, Xinjiang, China)

References

Japanese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Middle Chinese 文化 (mjun xwæH, “the way of educating by using morality, literature, rituals and music”), repurposed during the Meiji period as a translation of German Kultur.

Cited with the culture sense starting from roughly 1870.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぶ​んか (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

 文化 on Japanese Wikipedia

文(ぶん)化(か) • (bunka) ^{←ぶんくわ (bunkwa)?}

1. culture
   • 1928, 岸田國士, 「語られる言葉」の美:

     これは、国語(こくご)の性格(せいかく)に、文化(ぶんか)の伝統(でんとう)、国民性(こくみんせい)の特質(とくしつ)が作用(さよう)するからである。

     Kore wa, kokugo no seikaku ni, bunka no dentō, kokuminsei no tokushitsu ga sayō suru kara de aru.

     The tradition of culture and the traits of the nation function to make the character of the national language.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Chinese: 文化 (wénhuà)
• → Korean: 문화 (munhwa)
• → Vietnamese: văn hoá

Proper noun

 文化 (元号) on Japanese Wikipedia

 Bunka on Wikipedia

文(ぶん)化(か) • (Bunka) 

1. The Bunka era, 1804-1818

See also

• 享和(きょうわ) (Kyōwa) (era preceding Bunka)
• 文政(ぶんせい) (Bunsei) (era following Bunka)

References

Korean

Noun

文化 • (munhwa) (hangeul 문화)

1. Hanja form^? of 문화 (“culture”).

Vietnamese

Noun

文化

1. chữ Hán form of văn hoá (“culture”).