DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

文字獄

简文字狱 · 繁文字獄

Mandarin · pinyin wén zì yù

literary inquisition
official persecution of intellectuals for their writing

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

文: wén · literature, culture, writing
字: zì · letter, character, word
獄: Look up this written character
狱: yù · prison, jail; case; lawsuit

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–4–4 · wen2 zi4 yu4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

文字獄 · find source passages ↗ · 文字狱 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

man4 zi6 juk6

Cantonese word readings for 文字獄. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

(historical) literary inquisition
(by extension) any other similar persecution against intellectuals based on their works

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack