幡 (fān): banner

Measure Word

一面幡 miàn

Meanings

1 banner
2 long narrow flag (hung vertically)
3 pennant

Characters

幡

fān

vertical banner, long flag

Examples

HSK 7-9

寺庙前挂着五颜六色的幡。

Sìmiào qián guà zhe wǔyán-liùsè de fān.

Colorful banners hang in front of the temple.

HSK 7-9

幡随风飘动。

Fān suí fēng piāodòng.

The banner fluttered in the wind.

Tips

culture

幡 are the long, vertical fabric banners you see at Buddhist temples and Taoist altars - distinct from horizontal 旗 (flag). They're hung from a pole at the top and weighted at the bottom, often inscribed with sutras or invocations.

Components

radical

巾 jīn

cloth; towel

Left cloth radical - a pictograph of a strip of fabric hanging down from a belt. It is the indexing element and supplies the entire meaning: a banner is a long piece of cloth. Puts 幡 in the textile-object family with 帘 (curtain), 帜 (flag), 帐 (tent), 帆 (sail).

phonetic

番 fān

turn; foreign

Right 番 supplies the sound fān with no drift. 番 originally depicted an animal's clawed footprint pressed into a field - by extension 'one turn around, a round.' Same phonetic appears in 翻 (flip), 播 (broadcast), 蕃 (luxuriant). For 幡 the picture suits well: a banner that turns and flaps in the wind.