保bǎo

保

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Simplified · Today

简体

Simplified Chinese

Modern simplified form (簡體). 保 (bǎo, "to protect") looks exactly the same in simplified and traditional scripts — so essential was its meaning that neither side saw fit to change it. The character depicts a person (亻) with a child wrapped beside them, a visual of guarding and nurturing that has endured since bronze inscriptions. It serves as the semantic component in 堡 (fort), 裸 (bare) and 煲 (clay pot), among other characters.

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Shuowen

Protection. The character depicts an adult bending forward with a child held securely on their back, the body curved around the child in a gesture of safeguarding. This image of a parent bearing a child becomes the meaning to protect, to keep safe, and from this protective embrace comes all related meanings of shelter and preservation.

Pinyin

bǎo· HSK 2

保bǎo

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin