杯bēi

杯

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Simplified · Today

简体

Simplified Chinese

杯 (bēi, "cup, glass") in Simplified Chinese retains the traditional form, built from 木 (wood) as the semantic radical paired with 不 (bù) as the phonetic element — a combination that once described a wooden vessel for drinking. Though modern cups are more often ceramic or glass, the wooden origin remains embedded in the character's visual memory, making it instantly recognizable as a container in daily use from tea ceremonies to coffee shops.

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Shuowen

Cup. The image of a drinking vessel, first seen in oracle bone script as a pictograph of a cup with a base and handle. The left side adds the wood radical 木 to indicate the original material (a wooden cup) and also serves as a phonetic; the right side completes the shape. Thus the modern character 杯 signifies a cup for drinking, and all later cup characters derive from this root.

Pinyin

bēi· HSK 1

杯bēi

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin