汶 (Wèn): Wen (river name)

Meanings

1 Wen (river name)
2 Wen River (in northwest Sichuan, also Shandong)
3 (in compounds) place-name element

Characters

汶

Wèn

Wen River; place-name element

Examples

汶川位于四川省西部。

Wènchuān wèiyú Sìchuān shěng xībù.

Wenchuan is located in western Sichuan Province.

汶水流过山东中部。

Wèn shuǐ liúguò Shāndōng zhōngbù.

The Wen River flows through central Shandong.

Tips

culture

Best known today as part of 汶川 (Wènchuān), the Sichuan county devastated by the magnitude-8.0 earthquake on May 12, 2008 — over 69,000 dead. The 汶川大地震 ('Great Wenchuan Earthquake') is a generational reference point in modern China. Classically, 汶 also names a river in Shandong used in 《尚书》 to refer poetically to the state of Qi (齐国).

usage

Almost exclusively a place-name element (汶川, 汶河, 汶上). Not used as a standalone word in modern speech.