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八股文

bā gǔ wéndictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
eight-part essay one had to master to pass the imperial exams in Ming and Qing dynasties
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-94a0d936c3916ee7. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

八股文 八股文 [ba1 gu3 wen2] /eight-part essay one had to master to pass the imperial exams in Ming and Qing dynasties/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

  • 八
    bā

    eight

  • 股
    gǔ

    thigh / part of a whole / portion of a sum / (finance) stock / share / strand of a thread / low-level administrative unit, translated as "section" or "department" etc, ranked below 科[kē] / classifier for long winding things like ropes, rivers etc / classifier for smoke, smells etc: thread, puff, whiff / classifier for bands of people, gangs etc / classifier for sudden forceful actions

  • 文
    wén

    language / culture / writing / formal / literary / gentle / (old) classifier for coins / Kangxi radical 67

    Wén

    surname Wen

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.