中

北

Unicode: U+5317

Pinyin: běi bèi

Definition

běi:* 方向，早晨面对太阳，左手的一边，与"南"相对。 ～方。～辰（古书指北极星）。～上（古代以北为上，后指去本地以北的某地，与"南下"相对）。～极星（出现在天空北部的一颗亮星，人常靠它辨别方向）。～国（指中国北部）。 * 打了败仗往回逃。 败～。 bèi:* 古同"背"，违背，违反

north; northern; northward

Structure

北 graph

Related substructures

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Precursors

Oracle Bone Script
c. 1300–1050 BCE (Late Shang)
Inscriptions carved on turtle plastrons and animal bones for divination and record-keeping in the late Shang royal court; the oldest large attested corpus of written Chinese.Wikipedia ->
42_F60B42_F60C42_F60D42_F60E42_F60F42_F61042_F61142_F61242_F61342_F61442_F61542_F61642_F61742_F61842_F61942_F61A42_F61B42_F61C42_F61D42_F61E42_F61F42_F62042_F62142_F62242_F62342_F62442_F625
Bronze Inscriptions
c. 1200–221 BCE (Shang–Zhou; continues into the Warring States)
Inscriptions cast or engraved on ritual bronzes, especially prominent from the Western Zhou onward; a major source for early political, ritual, and social history.Wikipedia ->
33_E0BB33_E0BD33_E0C133_E0BC33_E0BE33_E0C033_E0B933_E0BA33_E0BF33_E0B233_E0B433_E0B133_E0B033_E0B333_E0B633_E0B833_E0B533_E0B7
Chu Script
c. 770–221 BCE (Chu, Spring & Autumn–Warring States)
A regional script tradition used in the state of Chu, best known from brush-written bamboo and silk manuscripts with distinctive local forms.Wikipedia ->
52_F49F52_F49E52_F49452_F49552_F49652_F49C52_F49752_F49A52_F49B52_F49952_F49D52_F49856_F59C56_F59B56_F5AF56_F5B056_F5B156_F5B256_F5B356_F5B456_F59D56_F59E56_F59F56_F5A056_F5A156_F5A256_F5A356_F5A456_F5A556_F5A956_F5A856_F5A756_F5A656_F5AB56_F5AA56_F5AC56_F5AD56_F5AE
Qin Script
c. 475–206 BCE (Qin, Warring States → Qin dynasty)
Qin-area character forms attested on bamboo/wood slips (e.g., Shuihudi, deposited 217 BCE), overlapping chronologically with the standardization of seal script and the emergence of clerical tendencies.Wikipedia ->
71_E90871_E90971_E90A71_E90B71_E90C
Small Seal Script
Standardized 221–206 BCE (Qin); developed earlier in Qin
The standardized seal script promulgated after Qin’s unification, based on earlier Qin seal forms and used as an empire-wide norm.Wikipedia ->
27_5317
Clerical Script
c. 300 BCE–220 CE (emerged late Warring States/Qin; dominant Han)
A practical script that evolved from late Warring States/Qin writing; it matured and became dominant in the Han dynasty, favoring faster, more rectilinear strokes.Wikipedia ->
71_E90871_E90971_E90A71_E90B71_E90C93_E01A93_E01B93_E01C93_E01D93_E01E93_E01F93_E02493_E02593_E02693_E02793_E02893_E02093_E02193_E02293_E023
Transmitted Pre-Qin Forms
Pre-Qin forms (≤221 BCE) / late 2nd century BCE onward (Han → later textual transmission)
Pre-Qin character forms preserved through later textual transmission (often discussed as the 'Old Text' / guwen tradition). Shaped by repeated copying, they can diverge from excavated Warring States materials.Wikipedia ->
83_EE6C83_EE6D83_EE6E83_EE6F83_EE7083_EE7183_EE72

Last Modified: 2026-01-29 11:48 UTC