文具
wén jù · HSK 7
stationery
✏️📐 文具 = 文 writing + 具 tool/implement = writing tools = stationery
文 means writing or culture; 具 means tool or implement (same 具 as in 工具 tools, 餐具 tableware). Put them together and you get writing-tools: pens, pencils, erasers, the stationery on a desk.
文 — pictograph of crossed lines on a chest
文 originally depicted a person with patterns or tattoos drawn on the chest, shown as crossed or interwoven lines. From this image of decorative markings, it came to mean 'pattern,' then 'writing,' 'script,' and 'literature' or 'culture.' The modern senses all trace back to the idea of meaningful marks.