Wenli
/ˈwɛn.li/noun
A traditional English transliteration for literary or Classical Chinese.
Did you know?Wenli is an older English rendering of Chinese 文理, while modern scholarship more commonly uses “Classical Chinese” or “literary Chinese.”
Etymological Timeline
Ancient China
Classical Chinese
文理
“The pattern, principles, or ordered structure of writing and culture”
Imperial China
Chinese
文理
“A term associated with literary composition, learned writing, or textual principles”
19th Century
English transliteration
wen-li
“A Western transliteration used for the literary language of China”
Late 19th–Early 20th Century
English
wenli
“Literary or Classical Chinese, especially in older sinological writing”
Modern English
English
Wenli
“An uncommon historical term, largely replaced by “Classical Chinese” or “literary Chinese””