邦 (bāng) is a Chinese character meaning “nation”. It is written from 丰 (abundant; lush growth) and 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)), side by side, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “nation; state”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
丰 + 阝
Left–right structure
- 丰 abundant; lush growth · fēng sound
- 阝 left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑) · fù meaning
Structure from: 说文解字·邑部：邦，國也。从邑丰聲
Memory aid
Lush growing land (丰) right next to a walled settlement (阝, the "city" ear on the right). Land plus city makes a state — 邦.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 邦交bāng jiāodiplomatic relations between states邦 = bāng
- 友邦yǒu bāngfriendly nation; allied state邦 = bāng
Go deeper
All readings
nation; state
nation; state; country (literary; common in compounds)
国家。古代指诸侯的封国，现代多用于书面语和固定词语，如「友邦」「邦交」。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 邦交bāng jiāodiplomatic relations between states邦 = bāng
- 友邦yǒu bāngfriendly nation; allied state邦 = bāng
Origin
The Shuowen Jiezi analyses 邦 as "from 邑 (settlement, written 阝 on the right) with 丰 as the phonetic" — a settled state or domain. Modern 丰 (fēng) and 邦 (bāng) no longer sound alike, a normal result of sound change over two thousand years.
Source: 说文解字·邑部：邦，國也。从邑丰聲
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 邦 mean?
邦 (bāng) means nation; state; country (literary; common in compounds).
How do you pronounce 邦?
It is pronounced bāng.
What parts is 邦 made of?
丰 (abundant; lush growth) and 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字·邑部：邦，國也。从邑丰聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 邦 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 邦?
邑. 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 邦?
Common ones are 邦交 and 友邦. The reading of 邦 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.