合同文字

Hétong wénzì
proper noun

Meanings

  1. 1 The Contract, an anonymous Yuan-dynasty zaju play in which Judge Bao settles an inheritance dispute

Examples

HSK 6
《 Hétong wénzì 》 shì Yuándài de yí bù Bāogōng xì.
The Contract is a Yuan-dynasty Judge Bao play.
HSK 7-9
“天有不测风云,人有旦夕祸福”这句话最早出自《合同文字》。
" Tiān yǒu búcè fēngyún, rén yǒu dànxī huòfú " zhè jù huà zuì zǎo chūzì 《 Hétong wénzì 》.
The saying 'the sky has sudden storms, and people have sudden fortune and misfortune' first appears in The Contract.

Tips

history
Two brothers write out a family agreement in two matching copies when one of them leaves home during a famine. Years later his orphaned son comes back with his copy, his uncle's wife takes it from him and denies he is family, and 包拯 tricks her into producing it.
usage
合同 here has its old meaning: a document made in two copies, with characters written across the join so the two halves could later be matched. The modern word for 'contract' comes from this practice.

Stroke Order

合 hé
同 tóng
文 wén
字 zì