今古文

jīngǔwén

noun

Meanings

1 New Text and Old Text (rival scholarly traditions of the Han dynasty for editing and interpreting the Confucian classics)

Characters

modern; current

Examples

汉代经学分今古文两派。

Hàndài jīngxué fēn jīngǔwén liǎng pài.

Han-dynasty classical studies split into the New Text and Old Text schools.

今古文之争影响了整个汉代学术。

Jīngǔwén zhī zhēng yǐngxiǎng le zhěnggè Hàndài xuéshù.

The New Text/Old Text controversy shaped Han-dynasty scholarship as a whole.

Tips

history

After Qin Shi Huang's book burnings, the classics were reconstructed two ways: from oral memory in current Han script (今文, 'New Text') or from older versions hidden in walls written in pre-Qin script (古文, 'Old Text'). The schools differed not just textually but interpretively — New Text scholars favored political portents and reform; Old Text scholars favored philology and historical fact.

Stroke Order

今 jīn

古 gǔ

文 wén