病 (bìng) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

病

bìng[bing4]Tone 4

illness

HSK 1

Guru Deep Dive

English · illness

Cached lesson

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Topology:Semi-enclosure

Strokes:10

Writing Balance Rule: The sickness enclosure radical (疒) arches gracefully over the top and left side like a protective roof, while the phonetic component (丙) is neatly nested underneath without touching the outer walls.

1. Meaning

illness, disease, or sickness

to fall illdefect, flaw, or fault

Noun / VerbNeutral#health#medicine#body

Sample Usage

他生病了，今天没来上学。
tā shēng bìng le, jīn tiān méi lái shàng xué.
He fell ill and didn't come to school today.
这个计划有很多毛病。
zhè ge jì huà yǒu hěn duō máo bìng.
This plan has many flaws/defects.

2. Sound

/[piŋ˥˩]/Tone: 51

病

bìngbing4

`(51)

=bìng

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Bilabial

Sounds like: b sound as in English 'bed'

Unaspirated

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together lightly then released without an outward puff of breath.

Final Rhyme

ing

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: -ing rhymes with English 'sing'

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

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

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and drops sharply to the bottom, identical to a sharp English command like 'No!' or 'Stop!'.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the vowel ending with '-eng' or confusing Tone 4 (bìng) with Tone 1 (bīng, ice).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A decisive karate chop downward from high in the air to low, matching the sharp drop of Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Semi-enclosure · Strokes: 10 strokes

4. Components

Radical 疒 · Sickness Radical (illness, bed, body condition)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 疒 (Indicates a medical condition, illness, or bedridden state.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 丙 (original sound: bǐng)

A person lying in bed (疒) enduring pain or internal turmoil as indicated by the glowing, active fire/stress nature of丙.

疒 sickness enclosure
丙 bright / third heavenly stem (providing the 'bìng' sound)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

5· Phonetic Root: 丙 (bǐng)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: The outer enclosure 疒 originally depicted a person lying on a couch or bed, while 丙 was added later to provide the phonetic reading and hint at a state of being inflamed or distressed.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referred specifically to physical disease or being bedridden, but over time expanded metaphorically to mean defects, flaws in objects, or problems in systems.

The sickness radical 疒 is found in almost all traditional Chinese characters relating to medical ailments, symptoms, and psychological distress.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ヘイ (hei) / ビョウ (byō) / Kun: やまい (yamai)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

병

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine someone lying in bed under a shelter (疒) because a bright, burning fever (丙) has made them extremely sick.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

柄

bǐnghandle, gripReplaces the sickness radical with the wood radical (木), representing a wooden handle.

饼

bǐngcake, flatbreadReplaces the sickness radical with the food/rice radical (饣), representing flat food or bread.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

冰(bīng)

冰 uses the ice radical (冫), meaning ice, whereas 病 uses the sickness radical (疒), meaning illness.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

他昨天淋了雨，今天在家[___]了。

Clue: shēng bìng

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the tone and pronouncing it as bīng (Tone 1, ice) instead of bìng (Tone 4, illness), or miswriting the inner component 丙.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 病, what does it mean and how is it pronounced with tones?

Production: How do you write the character for 'illness/disease' (bìng) using the sickness radical?

病bìngillness

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