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文弱書生

简文弱书生 · 繁文弱書生

Mandarin · pinyin wén ruò shū shēng

(idiom) frail scholar

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Characters in this entry

文: wén · literature, culture, writing
弱: ruò · weak; fragile, delicate
書: Look up this written character
生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
书: shū · book, letter, document; writings

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–1–1 · wen2 ruo4 shu1 sheng1

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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.

文弱書生 · find source passages ↗ · 文弱书生 · find source passages ↗

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) scholar or intellectual who is gentle and frail

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

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