棒 (bàng) is a Chinese character meaning “stick”. It is written from 木 (tree; wood) and 奉 (to offer up respectfully (with both hands)), side by side, and takes 12 strokes.
Build the character for “stick”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
木 + 奉
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS ⿰木奉 (modern glyph split), verified against hanzi-writer-data strokes 木[0-3] 奉[4-11]
Memory aid
Someone offers up (奉) a length of wood (木) with both hands — a stick, ready to swing.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
12 strokes
In real words
- 棒球bàng qiúbaseball棒 = bàng
- 木棒mù bàngwooden stick; club棒 = bàng
Go deeper
All readings
stick; great
stick; club; bat; (colloquial) great, excellent, strong
棍子；口语里也形容好、厉害、强。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 棒球bàng qiúbaseball棒 = bàng
- 木棒mù bàngwooden stick; club棒 = bàng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 棒 mean?
棒 (bàng) means stick; club; bat; (colloquial) great, excellent, strong.
How do you pronounce 棒?
It is pronounced bàng.
What parts is 棒 made of?
木 (tree; wood) and 奉 (to offer up respectfully (with both hands)), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS ⿰木奉 (modern glyph split), verified against hanzi-writer-data strokes 木[0-3] 奉[4-11]. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 棒 have?
12. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 棒?
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 棒?
Common ones are 棒球 and 木棒. The reading of 棒 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.