中文 from HSK Level 1 Vocabulary List

The Chinese word 中文 (zhōngwén) is a compound of two characters: 中 (zhōng), meaning "middle" or "central", and 文 (wén), meaning "culture" or "language". Together, they literally mean "the language of the Middle Kingdom", referring to China.The term 中文 has been used for centuries to refer to the Chinese language, and it is still the most common term used today. However, there are also other terms that are sometimes used, such as 汉语 (hànyǔ), which means "the language of the Han people", and 国语 (guóyǔ), which means "the national language".The character 中 (zhōng) has a long history in Chinese culture, and it has been used to refer to China since the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BC). The character 文 (wén) also has a long history, and it was originally used to refer to the written word. However, over time, it came to be used more broadly to refer to culture and language.The compound 中文 (zhōngwén) first appeared in the 13th century, and it quickly became the most common term used to refer to the Chinese language. Today, it is used by people all over the world to refer to the language of China.