邶

Bèi
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 (classical) Bei, an ancient feudal state north of Chaoge

Examples

HSK 7-9
Bèi shì yí gè gǔ guó, Shījīng lǐ bǎocún le Bèi fēng.
Bei was an ancient feudal state, and the Book of Songs preserves the Airs of Bei.

Tips

history
邶 is not used independently in modern Chinese. It was a small state set up after the Zhou conquest of Shang, and survives almost only through the 邶风 (Airs of Bei) section of the 诗经.
register
Historical and literary; encountered through the Book of Songs and old geography, not in speech.

Components

radical
阝 yì
city; settlement
阝 on the right is the city radical (a form of 邑), marking the character as a place or state name.
phonetic
北 běi
north
北 supplies the sound běi; fittingly, the state of Bei lay to the north of the old Shang capital.

Stroke Order

邶 Bèi