文明
ぶんめい · bunmei · JLPT N3 · noun
civilization
🏛️📜 文明 = writing + bright: where writing lights the way, civilization begins
文 (bun) means writing or culture, and 明 (mei) means bright or enlightened. Together they mean a society made bright by letters and learning. Meiji (明治) has the same 明: the era Japan called its own age of civilization.
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.