文盲
wén máng · HSK 7
illiterate
📖🚫 文 wen = writing + 盲 mang = blind: blind to writing = illiterate
文 means text or writing; 盲 means blind. Together literally writing-blind, someone who cannot read. The 盲 character itself stacks 亡 (gone) over 目 (eye): an eye that is gone.
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.