What does 行文至此 mean in 行文至此，北京市职业介绍部门传来令人欣喜的消息……?

Question

行文至此，北京市职业介绍部门传来令人欣喜的消息：在招聘的85名保洁员中，有50人是北京人。
_{Short Term Reading Chinese (2nd edition): Advanced; photo (alternative site)}

I'm confused about why this sentence from my textbook begins with 行文至此.

CC-CEDICT: 行文 (xíng​wén​) writing style (formal) / to send an official written communication
CC-CEDICT: 至此 (zhì​cǐ​) up until now / so far

Judging from the above, 行文 seems illogical (missing definition?). And 至此 is just another way of saying 至今.

Question: What does 行文至此 mean in 行文至此，北京市职业介绍部门传来令人欣喜的消息……?

Answer 1

行文至此: At the time of writing, Thus far,

行文：Probably a reference to:

行笔xíng bǐ

1. 中国书法的用笔方法，
   A Chinese calligraphy style of using the brush,
   指笔锋在纸上的运转动作，
   refers to the way of moving the tip of the brush on the paper,
   也称运笔。
   aka wield (the) brush.
   语本汉蔡邕《九势》:
   etymology: Han Dynasty Cai Yong (133-192) <9 forms>
   "令笔心常在点画中行。
   "Let the brush middle always follow the stroke.
   " 宋代魏泰《东轩笔录》：
   "Song Dynasty Wei Tai
   “近世沈辽最善行笔。”
   "(In the) Modern world Shen Liao (is the) best writer. (best at writing (xingbi))

2.指行文。
Refers to writing style

Answer 2

I can't see the photo posted by OP. But 行文至此 usually means till now (the very point of this writing).

行文 is like walking through an article. It's a vivid/traditional way to say 写文章.

Answer 3

行文至此：Before we break it down, this combination of 4 characters roughly means "up to this point of writing" in English.

Judging from the above, 行文 seems illogical (missing definition?). And 至此 is just another way of saying 至今.

至此 is not another way of saying 至今。In the context of writing:

• 至：till / to (a destination)
• 此：here / (at) this point
• 至此："to this point"

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行文，in the context of writing:

• 行：(something) walk / walk (something) / make something move
• 文：article / writing (the thing that you're writing)
• 行文："Writing ..." (article or sentence etc)

[abstract] Imagine the exact moment when you're holding a pen (or with a pen in mind) and writing (something, maybe a sentence).

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Extra:

You may have seen the usage like "行文如流水", the meaning is then fairly straight forward.

Answer 4

文章寫到這裡 - 行(寫)文(文章)至(到)此(這裡). 行文

"行", actually means "走", here, it should be interpreted as "寫", as it describes the act of "writing". A modern equivalent of 行文至此 is "走筆至此".

Content: The writer was writing an article about the employment condition of the native Pekinese, and at some point before finishing, he heard the good news about.... So "writing up to this point, a good news has arrived...."