北 (běi): north

Meanings

1 north

Characters

北

běi

north

Two people back to back — facing away from the warm south.

Examples

北京在中国的北边。

Běijīng zài Zhōngguó de běibian.

Beijing is in the north of China.

往北走。

Wǎng běi zǒu.

Go north.

Tips

history

The character 北 originally depicted two people sitting back to back — the direction you face away from (south-facing was the honored direction in ancient China, so the back faced north).

culture

In Chinese culture, the emperor's throne faced south, so north was associated with 'behind' or 'defeat' (败北 means 'to be defeated').

Components

radical

匕 bǐ

ladle; reversed person

The 匕 radical on the right preserves the second of the two back-to-back figures more clearly than the left side does. Indexed under 匕, it anchors the character; the two-person 'back-to-back' arrangement gave 北 both its directional sense and the meaning 'to flee with one's back turned.'

semantic

丬 pán

left-side residue (originally a reversed person)

The left half originally depicted a person facing right, paired with another facing left — two people back-to-back, which is what 'north' meant before it became a compass direction. The modern silhouette has fused this person-shape into a three-stroke unit on the left.