辈 (bèi): generation; lifetime

Meanings

1 generation; lifetime
2 people of a certain generation
3 classifier for generations of people

Characters

辈

bèi

generation; lifetime

非 (not) on top + 车 (vehicle) — generations rolling forward like wheels

Examples

他是我们这辈人的榜样。

Tā shì wǒmen zhè bèi rén de bǎngyàng.

He is a role model for our generation.

老一辈的人很节俭。

Lǎoyībèi de rén hěn jiéjiǎn.

The older generation is very frugal.

我这辈子都不会忘记你。

Wǒ zhè bèizi dōu búhuì wàngjì nǐ.

I will never forget you in this lifetime.

他们是同辈，年纪差不多。

Tāmen shì tóng bèi, niánjì chàbùduō.

They are of the same generation, about the same age.

Tips

usage

辈子 (bèizi) means 'lifetime/life': 这辈子 (this life), 上辈子 (past life), 下辈子 (next life).

usage

Common: 长辈 (zhǎngbèi, elders), 晚辈 (wǎnbèi, younger generation), 前辈 (qiánbèi, senior/predecessor), 同辈 (tóngbèi, peers).

Components

radical

车 chē

cart; chariot

Bottom 车 — pictograph of a cart seen from above. The indexing radical; in 辈 it gives the concrete image of a procession of chariots, from which the meaning "rank, generation, cohort" was abstracted (前辈 elder generation, 同辈 same-age peer, 一辈子 a whole lifetime).

phonetic

非 fēi

not; opposing wings

Top 非 supplies the sound: fēi drifting to bèi via a well-attested f/b alternation across early Chinese. Originally 非 depicted a pair of opposing wings, and that paired imagery doubles into 辈 as "a row of carts side by side" — a generation lined up together.