崩 (bēng) is a Chinese character meaning “to collapse”. It is written from 山 (mountain) and 朋 (friend), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “to collapse”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
山 + 朋
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字·山部「崩，山壞也。从山朋聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿱山朋，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「山」，笔画 3–10 与「朋」逐笔对应（3+8=11画）
Memory aid
A mountain (山) sits on top of two friends (朋). When the mountain comes down on them, it all collapses.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 崩溃bēng kuìto collapse; to break down崩 = bēng
- 雪崩xuě bēngavalanche崩 = bēng
Go deeper
All readings
to collapse
to collapse; to fall apart; to burst
倒塌；破裂；垮掉。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 崩溃bēng kuìto collapse; to break down崩 = bēng
- 雪崩xuě bēngavalanche崩 = bēng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 崩 mean?
崩 (bēng) means to collapse; to fall apart; to burst.
How do you pronounce 崩?
It is pronounced bēng.
What parts is 崩 made of?
山 (mountain) and 朋 (friend), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字·山部「崩，山壞也。从山朋聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿱山朋，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「山」，笔画 3–10 与「朋」逐笔对应（3+8=11画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 崩 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 崩?
山. 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 崩?
Common ones are 崩溃 and 雪崩. The reading of 崩 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.