漢文(かんぶん)

かんぶん
noun
classical Chinese writing, kanbun
academiclanguageeducation
1. classical Chinese writing, kanbun
Texts written in classical Chinese, or the Japanese academic discipline of reading and interpreting such texts using special reading marks. A required subject in Japanese high school education.
高校(こうこう)で漢文(かんぶん)を習(なら)った。
I studied kanbun in high school.
漢文(かんぶん)の読(よ)み下(くだ)しは難(むずか)しい。
Reading kanbun in Japanese word order is difficult.
読(よ)み下(くだ)し refers to the technique of reading classical Chinese texts in Japanese grammatical order.
日本(にほん)の古典(こてん)文学(ぶんがく)を深(ふか)く理解(りかい)するには、漢文(かんぶん)の知識(ちしき)が欠(か)かせない。
Knowledge of kanbun is essential for a deep understanding of Japanese classical literature.

Usage

漢文(かんぶん) is a core subject in Japanese high school education alongside 古文(こぶん) (classical Japanese). Students learn to read classical Chinese texts using 返(かえ)り点(てん) (return marks) and 送(おく)りがな that indicate Japanese word order. Many famous passages from Chinese classics like the Analerta of Confucius and Tang poetry are studied.

Common collocations

  • 漢文(かんぶん)の授業(じゅぎょう): kanbun class
  • 漢文(かんぶん)の読(よ)み下(くだ)し: reading kanbun in Japanese order
  • 漢文(かんぶん)訓読(くんどく): Japanese reading of classical Chinese
  • 返(かえ)り点(てん): return marks (used in kanbun)

Related Words

Related: 漢語(かんご) (Sino-Japanese word)
Related: 漢詩(かんし) (Chinese poetry)
Related: 古文(こぶん) (classical Japanese)
Related: 漢書(かんじょ) (Book of Han (Chinese history classic))
Related: 史記(しき) (Records of the Grand Historian (Chinese classic))
general
Added 2026.2.24 20:14 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01
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