北(běi)

HSK 15 strokes
Readingsběibèi

north

Print a 北 worksheet PDFPractice writing 北

Stroke order animation

Character information

Pinyin
běi / bèi
Meaning
north; (classical) to be defeated
Strokes
5
HSK level
HSK 1
Traditional
Same

Origin & structure

Where 北 comes from and how its parts fit together.

Pictograph⿰？匕

Two people 匕 sitting back-to-back; phonetic loan for "north"

A drawing of the thing it names.

Made of

匕bǐ

Parts are arranged left to right.

How to write 北 step by step

5 strokes — each frame adds one stroke, shown in dark ink over the lighter ones.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

Words with 北

Common words using 北 — tap any character to open its stroke-order page.

běi北jīng京
HSK 1

Beijing municipality, capital of the People's Republic of China (short name 京[Jing1])

Open 北京 page →
sān三běi北

China's three northern regions, 东北, 华北 and 西北[…

Open 三北 page →
qiū丘běi北

Qiubei county in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao autonomous prefecture 文山壯族苗族自治州|文山…

Open 丘北 page →
yǐ以běi北

to the north of (suffix)

Open 以北 page →
qiū丘běi北xiàn县

Qiubei, a county in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture 文山壮族苗族自治州, Yunnan

Open 丘北县 page →
zhōng中běi北bù部

north central area

Open 中北部 page →
běi北shàng上

to go up north

Open 北上 page →
běi北shàng上guǎng广

Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou (abbr. for 北京[Bei3 jing1] + 上海[Shang4 hai3] + 广州)

Open 北上广 page →

Related characters

More HSK 1 characters

一七三上下不东两

From 北’s common words

京三丘以县中部上

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