书香

書香
shūxiāng
noun #75,936

Meanings

  1. 1 a family tradition of learning
  2. 2 the scent of books

Examples

HSK 4
Zǒujìn zhè jiā jiù shūdiàn, mǎn wū dōu shì shūxiāng.
Step into this old bookshop and the whole room smells of books.
HSK 7-9
Tā shēng zài shūxiāng zhī jiā, zǔfù hé fùqin dōu shì jiàoshòu.
She was born into a family of scholars; her grandfather and father were both professors.

Tips

culture
The scent was real at first: scholars kept leaves of 芸香 (rue) among their books to keep insects out, and the smell came to mark a reading household. The set phrases are 书香门第 and 书香世家, a family of scholars for generations.

Stroke Order

书 shū
香 xiāng