经传

經傳
jīngzhuàn
noun #31,222

Meanings

  1. 1 the classics and their commentaries (esp. Confucian)
  2. 2 canonical works

Examples

HSK 4
Tā shú dú jīngzhuàn, xuéwen shēnhòu.
He has read the classics and commentaries thoroughly; his learning is profound.
HSK 7-9
Zhè wèi xuézhě bìngfēi míngbùjiànjīngzhuàn.
This scholar is by no means an unknown.

Tips

history
(jīng) = the canonical classics themselves (《诗》 《书》 《易》 《礼》 《春秋》). (zhuàn, NOT chuán here) = the authoritative commentaries that accompany them, for example 《左传》, 《公羊传》, and 《谷梁传》 attached to the Spring and Autumn Annals 《春秋》. 经传 together names the entire scholarly canon.
mistakes
Read as zhuàn ('commentary; biography'), not chuán ('to transmit'). The set phrase 名不见经传 ('name unrecorded in the classics' = an unknown) is where most learners first meet this word.

Stroke Order

jīng
chuán