毖 (bì): to be cautious; to take care

Meanings

1 to be cautious; to take care
2 to caution; to admonish
3 (of spring water) to gush forth

Characters

毖

bì

cautious; admonish

Examples

HSK 6

惩前毖后，治病救人。

Chéngqián-bìhòu, zhìbìng-jiùrén.

Learning from past mistakes, we take precautions for the future.

HSK 7-9

他毖其子女戒奢。

Tā bì qí zǐnǚ jiè shē.

He warned his children to guard against extravagance.

HSK 7-9

泉水毖涌不息。

Quánshuǐ bì yǒng bù xī.

Spring water gushes endlessly from the rocks.

Tips

history

Survives in one set phrase: 惩前毖后 ('punish past errors to take precautions for the future'). The source is 《诗经·周颂·小毖》: 予其惩而毖后患 - the young king Cheng's vow to learn from the rebellion of the Three Guards. Mao Zedong revived the four-character form in 1942 as a Party formula for handling internal errors.

register

Almost exclusively literary or political-formal. Outside 惩前毖后 (which is alive in editorials and policy speeches) it's a classical-text-only character. The 'gushing spring' meaning is archaic.

Components

radical

比 bǐ

compare; alongside

Bottom 比 (Kangxi #81, side-by-side / compare). Indexes 毖 in the radical-browse list. The 'two people side by side' image fits the admonish-and-be-admonished pairing.

phonetic

必 bì

must; certainly

Top 必 supplies the sound (bì, exact match) and a hint of the 'compulsion / firmness' sense - to take precaution = something one must do. Same phonetic in 秘, 泌, 苾.