---
title: "Wenxian Meaning: 文献 (wénxiàn) Means “literature”"
description: "文献 (traditional 文獻, wénxiàn) means “literature; documents; references”. Hear its tones, see what 文 and 献 each mean and a real sentence that uses it."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/wenxian"
published: "2026-10-21"
updated: "2026-11-06"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[What does it mean in Chinese?](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning)

# What does 文献 mean?

猫头鹰māotóuyīngowl

文献 wénxiàn

## literature; documents; references

## Its characters

1. 文 wén writing
2. 献 xiàn to offer

## In a sentence

写论文前要先看很多文献。 Before writing a paper, you need to read a lot of literature.

[More about 文献](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/%E6%96%87%E7%8C%AE)

## More words with 文 or 献

- [发疯文学 fāfēng-wénxué](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/fafengwenxue)
- [贡献 gòngxiàn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/gongxian)
- [课文 kèwén](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/kewen)
- [论文 lùnwén](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/lunwen)
- [人文 rénwén](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/renwen)
- [天文 tiānwén](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/tianwen)
- [文档 wéndàng](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/wendang)
- [文化 wénhuà](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/wenhua)
- [文件 wénjiàn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/wenjian)
- [文科 wénkē](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/wenke)

## Keep 文献 for Review

A free account keeps it, and Review brings it back just before you’d forget it.

## Look up another word

## See any word in its sentence

Get a card like this for every word on any page or YouTube subtitle.

[Add to Chrome](https://mandarinthewild.com/go/chrome?from=%2Fmeaning%2Fwenxian) [Read in the Library](https://mandarinthewild.com/library)

[Every free Chinese tool we make](https://mandarinthewild.com/tools)

[How it compares with Du Chinese](https://mandarinthewild.com/compare/du-chinese)