Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Wen-li \W[^e]n"-li`\, n. [Chin. w[^e]n li.]
   The higher literary idiom of Chinese, that of the canonical
   books and of all composition pretending to literary standing.
   It employs a classical or academic diction, and a more
   condensed and sententious style than Mandarin, and differs
   also in the doubling and arrangement of words.