般 (bān) is a Chinese character meaning “sort”. It is written from 舟 (boat) and 殳 (a hand holding a long-handled tool or weapon), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “sort; kind”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
舟 + 殳
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（对照笔顺数据核验：舟 6 画 + 殳 4 画 = 10 画）
Memory aid
A boat (舟) on the left, a hand holding a pole (殳) on the right: pushing a boat along is the ordinary, everyday sort of thing a boatman does — 般 means "sort; kind; like".
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 一般yì bāngeneral; ordinary; usually般 = bān
Go deeper
All readings
sort; kind
sort; kind; way; like; as
种；样；类。也用在词后表示“像……一样”。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 一般yì bāngeneral; ordinary; usually般 = bān
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 般 mean?
般 (bān) means sort; kind; way; like; as.
How do you pronounce 般?
It is pronounced bān.
What parts is 般 made of?
舟 (boat) and 殳 (a hand holding a long-handled tool or weapon), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（对照笔顺数据核验：舟 6 画 + 殳 4 画 = 10 画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 般 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 般?
舟. 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 般?
Common ones are 一般. The reading of 般 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.