秉 (bǐng) · to grasp, to hold, to uphold (a principle)

Meanings

1 to grasp
2 to hold
3 to uphold (a principle)

Characters

秉

bǐng

to grasp, to hold

Examples

HSK 7-9

他秉公办事，从不偏袒。

Tā bǐng gōng bànshì, cóngbù piāntǎn.

He acts impartially and never plays favorites.

HSK 7-9

我们秉承父亲的遗志。

Wǒmen bǐngchéng fùqīn de yízhì.

We carry on our father's wishes.

Tips

usage

秉 is literary and mostly appears in fixed compounds like 秉公 (be impartial), 秉承 (inherit/uphold), 秉持 (hold to), and 秉性 (nature). Rarely stands alone in modern speech.

memory

The character pictures a hand grasping a stalk of grain (禾) - the literal meaning is 'to hold a sheaf', extended to 'hold/uphold' anything.

Components

radical

禾 hé

grain stalk

Grain-stalk radical 禾 wraps around the hand at the centre - the indexing radical, depicting a drooping head of wheat or millet. It is the object being held: the original picture was a hand grasping a sheaf of grain, the literal harvest gesture that gave 秉 its 'hold, grasp, uphold' meaning.

semantic

彐 jì

hand (grasping form)

Middle 彐 is the schematic hand gripping the stalk - a stylised right hand reaching across the centre of the character. Pure semantic role, no sound. The hand-plus-grain combination is one of the cleanest 会意 ideographs in the script: you can literally see the harvester holding the cut sheaf.