重文輕武

简 重文轻武 · 繁 重文輕武
Mandarin · pinyin zhòng wén qīng wǔ

Meanings

  1. to value letters and belittle arms (idiom); to stress civil matters and neglect the military
  2. to prefer the pen to the sword
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Characters in this entry

重
zhòng · heavy, weighty; double
文
wén · literature, culture, writing
輕
qīng · light; easy, simple; gentle
武
wǔ · military; martial, warlike
轻
qīng · light; easy, simple; gentle
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–2–1–3 · zhong4 wen2 qing1 wu3

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zung6 man4 hing1 mou5

Cantonese word readings for 重文輕武. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

zung6 man4 hing1 mou5

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

重文輕武 · zhong4 wen2 qing1 wu3
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 110,891
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record重文輕武 重文轻武 [zhong4 wen2 qing1 wu3] /to value letters and belittle arms (idiom); to stress civil matters and neglect the military/to prefer the pen to the sword/