板 (bǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “a flat piece of wood, metal or other rigid material”. It is written from 木 (tree; wood) and 反 (reverse; opposite; to turn over), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “board; plank”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
木 + 反
Left–right structure
Structure from: modern glyph decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke geometry (8 strokes = 木 4 + 反 4); radical 木 from Unicode CJKRadicals
Memory aid
Wood (木) on the left, 反 (fǎn) on the right telling you the sound — bǎn. Wood cut flat: a board.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 木板mù bǎnwooden board; plank板 = bǎn
- 甲板jiǎ bǎndeck (of a ship)板 = bǎnspoken asjiá bǎn
- 板栗bǎn lìChinese chestnut板 = bǎn
Go deeper
All readings
board; plank
a flat piece of wood, metal or other rigid material; a board or plank
片状的硬质材料，多指木板；也用于黑板、甲板等。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 木板mù bǎnwooden board; plank板 = bǎn
- 甲板jiǎ bǎndeck (of a ship)板 = bǎnspoken asjiá bǎn
- 板栗bǎn lìChinese chestnut板 = bǎn
Sound component
反 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 板 mean?
板 (bǎn) means a flat piece of wood, metal or other rigid material; a board or plank.
How do you pronounce 板?
It is pronounced bǎn.
What parts is 板 made of?
木 (tree; wood) and 反 (reverse; opposite; to turn over), side by side. The recorded source is: modern glyph decomposition verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke geometry (8 strokes = 木 4 + 反 4); radical 木 from Unicode CJKRadicals. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 板 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 板?
木. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 板?
Common ones are 木板 and 甲板. The reading of 板 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.