屏 (bīng) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

屏

bīng[bing1]Tone 1

screen, shield, or to hold breath

HSK 6

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · screen, shield, or to hold breath

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Semi-enclosure

Strokes:9

Writing Balance Rule: The outer shelter roof component must gracefully arch over and protect the inner body element without crushing it.

1. Meaning

screen, shield, or to hold breath (in compound terms)

to get rid ofto rejectto hold back (breath)

verb / nounliterary / formalBound morpheme#architecture#furniture#body control

Sample Usage

屏气
bǐng qì
to hold one's breath
屏风
píng fēng
folding screen

2. Sound

/[pɪŋ⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

屏

bīngbing1

¯(55)

=bīng

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Bilabial

Sounds like: p sound in English spy

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No burst of air. A tissue in front of lips should stay still.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together firmly before releasing cleanly without a puff of air.

Final Rhyme

ing

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: -ing rhymes with sing

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'eeng'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is a high, steady pitch, similar to saying 'mهِe' or humming a sustained musical note on a high key without any rise or fall.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the first tone [bīng] with the fourth tone [bìng] or third tone [bǐng].

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Imagine holding a flat, high palm steady at eye level across the horizon, representing a high level flat tone.

3. Writing

Topology: Semi-enclosure · Strokes: 9 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The outer shelter roof component must gracefully arch over and protect the inner body element without crushing it.

4. Components

Radical 尸 · Corpse / Awning Radical (roof, shelter, or body posture)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 尸 (provides the spatial/shelter concept)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 并 (original sound: bīng / bìng)

A protective awning or shelter (尸) combined with the phonetic element 'together' (并) to form a barrier or screen that brings things together or shields them.

尸 shelter or awning
并 phonetic clue for ping/bing

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

8· Phonetic Root: 并 (bìng)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally constructed with a shelter element (尸) to denote a standing wall partition or screen, phonetic sound supplied by 并.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from architectural screens and dividers to general concepts of shielding, hiding, and holding back.

Traditional folding screens (屏风) were essential pieces of elite interior architecture in ancient China.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Beneath a protective awning (尸), multiple things (并) are combined together to form a solid shield or screen.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

并

bìngside by side / togetherBase phonetic component without the shelter roof.

饼

bǐngcake / pastryAdds the food/rice radical (饣) on the left.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

屏 (píng)(píng)

The exact same character can be pronounced píng when referring to screens (like 屏幕 píngmù), or bīng/bǐng in literary or compound phrases.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

运动员在起跑线前全神贯注，[___]住呼吸等待发令枪响。

Clue: bǐng

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the multiple readings and tones of this multi-read character (píng vs bīng vs bǐng) depending on whether it means a screen or holding breath.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 屏 in '屏气', what is its pronunciation and core meaning?

Production: How do you write the character meaning 'screen or shield' with 9 strokes using the corpse/shelter radical?

屏bīngscreen, shield, or to hold breath

Speed:

Searching YouTube for native pronunciation videos...

0 / 0