秉 (bǐng) is a Chinese character meaning “to grasp”. It is written from 禾 (grain; standing grain) and ㇕ (horizontal-turning stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke), and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “to grasp; to uphold”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
禾 + ㇕ + ㇐ + ㇐
Overlapping structure
- 禾 grain; standing grain · hé unknown
- ㇕ horizontal-turning stroke unknown
- ㇐ horizontal stroke unknown
- ㇐ horizontal stroke unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+79C9; modern decomposition candidate checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 1-2 and 6-8 form a complete 禾; stroke 3 is a 横折 ㇕ and strokes 4-5 are two 横 ㇐ inserted across it)
Memory aid
A stalk of grain (禾) with a hand clamped over it: the turning stroke (㇕) is the thumb, the two flat strokes (㇐) are fingers pressed across the stem. 秉 is holding something firmly.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 秉承bǐng chéngto carry on (a tradition); to act on (instructions)秉 = bǐng
- 秉公bǐng gōngimpartially; in a fair and just way秉 = bǐng
Go deeper
All readings
to grasp; to uphold
to grasp; to hold firmly; to uphold (a principle); to be in charge of
拿着、握住；引申为主持、遵循（如「秉公」「秉承」）。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 秉承bǐng chéngto carry on (a tradition); to act on (instructions)秉 = bǐng
- 秉公bǐng gōngimpartially; in a fair and just way秉 = bǐng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 秉 mean?
秉 (bǐng) means to grasp; to hold firmly; to uphold (a principle); to be in charge of.
How do you pronounce 秉?
It is pronounced bǐng.
What parts is 秉 made of?
禾 (grain; standing grain) and ㇕ (horizontal-turning stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke). The recorded source is: Unicode U+79C9; modern decomposition candidate checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 1-2 and 6-8 form a complete 禾; stroke 3 is a 横折 ㇕ and strokes 4-5 are two 横 ㇐ inserted across it). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 秉 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 秉?
禾. 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 秉?
Common ones are 秉承 and 秉公. The reading of 秉 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.