币 (bì) is a Chinese character meaning “money”. It is written from ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and 巾 (cloth), and takes 4 strokes.
Build the character for “currency”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
㇒ + 巾
Overlapping structure
Structure from: Unicode U+5E01 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (four strokes: 撇 over 巾)
Memory aid
Lay one slanting stroke (㇒) across the top of a hanging cloth (巾), and the cloth turns into money — a banknote with a crease folded over it.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
4 strokes
In real words
- 货币huò bìcurrency; money币 = bì
- 人民币rén mín bìrenminbi (RMB), the currency of China币 = bì
Go deeper
All readings
currency
money; currency; coins and banknotes
钱；用作交换的货币。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 货币huò bìcurrency; money币 = bì
- 人民币rén mín bìrenminbi (RMB), the currency of China币 = bì
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 币 mean?
币 (bì) means money; currency; coins and banknotes.
How do you pronounce 币?
It is pronounced bì.
What parts is 币 made of?
㇒ (left-falling stroke) and 巾 (cloth). The recorded source is: Unicode U+5E01 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (four strokes: 撇 over 巾). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 币 have?
4. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 币?
巾. 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 币?
Common ones are 货币 and 人民币. The reading of 币 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.