wenyan

English

Etymology

From Mandarin 文言 (wényán).

Noun

wenyan (uncountable)

1. Classical Chinese
   • 2004, Michael Lackner, Natascha Vittinghoff, Mapping Meanings: The Field of New Learning in Late Qing China, BRILL, →ISBN, page 280:

     The first baihua-journals until about 1901 contained mainly articles and news, which had been originally written in wenyan and were now translated into the vernacular language.