闻 wén to hear; news; well-known
Made up of [门 mén entrance; gate radical 169, 耳 ěr ear radical 128]Alternative traditional form of character: 聞
Made with 9 strokes.
Gives the idea of an ear at a gateway - hence 'listen, hear'; 'men' 'gateway' also suggests pronunciation
Related characters
Also uses 门 mén component: 间 jiàn (gap) 间 jiān (between) ; 们 mén (s) ; 闰 rùn (leap) ; 问 wèn (ask) ; 闲 xián (to stay idle)
Also uses 耳 ěr component: 聪 cōng (quick at hearing) 取 qǔ (to take)
Sounds same
文 wén (script)Different tone
问 wèn (ask)Pronunciation
Sound file kindly provided by shtooka.net ➚ under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License
Proverbs
百闻不如一见 bǎi wén bù rú yí jiàn Delighted to meet you in person at last. Seeing at first hand gives valuable information. The story is of a Han dynasty veteran general Zhao Chongguo who went to see the situation for himself at the frontier rather than relying on secondhand reports. His wise analysis quickly solved the problem with the incursions of northern tribes闻风丧胆 wén fēng sàng dǎn Panic stricken; terrified by news
闻鸡起舞 wén jī qǐ wǔ Keen to begin a task even at daybreak. Diligent in action, losing no time.