Writing Balance Rule: The left component (鼔/鼓 variant base) and right component (卑) must share the horizontal space equally without crowding, keeping the overall glyph square and stable.
1. Meaning
drum carried on horseback
small drum used in ancient military cavalry
NounLiteraryBound morpheme#music#military#history
Sample Usage
鼙鼓
pígǔ
small drum and big drum (ancient military drums)
渔阳鼙鼓
yúyáng pígǔ
drums of Yuyang (referring to the An Lushan Rebellion)
2. Sound
/[pʰi³⁵]/Tone: 35
鼙
pípi2
|
++
´(35)
=pí
Build the syllable
Step-by-step blending
pi
Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "i" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).
Initial Consonant
p
Type: Aspirated Bilabial
Sounds like: p sound in 'pie'
Aspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Strong puff of air! A tissue held before lips MUST fly forward.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Both lips closed tightly together then released with a strong puff of air.
Final Rhyme
i
Vowel Group: -i vowel group
Sounds like: ee sound in 'see'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ee'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T2 (35)
3 → 5 (35)
2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 starts in the middle register and rises sharply to the top, exactly like asking a surprised question in English such as 'What?' or 'Really?'
Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 2 syllable, the starting pitch may slightly adjust, but the rising contour remains prominent.
👂
Listening trap: Confusing the rising Tone 2 (pí) with Tone 4 (pì) or Tone 1 (pī), especially in fast classical poetry recitations.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: A quick upward diagonal hand sweep, mirroring an elevator rising from the ground floor to the top floor.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 20 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left component (鼔/鼓 variant base) and right component (卑) must share the horizontal space equally without crowding, keeping the overall glyph square and stable.
4. Components
Radical鼯 · Drum Radical (drum)
Semantic Clue (形旁):鼔 (Indicates the general category of drums and percussion.)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):卑 (original sound: bēi / pí)
The character combines the drum radical (鼓/鼔) on the left, showing something percussion-related, with 卑 on the right acting as the phonetic and situational clue for sound and scale.
鼔 Drum meaning indicator
卑 Phonetic indicator providing the 'pi' sound
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
4· Phonetic Root: 鼓 (gǔ)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Formed during later dynastic periods by combining the semantic domain of drums (鼓) with the sound-giving component 卑 to designate a specialized cavalry drum.
Semantic Evolution: Originally referred specifically to small drums strapped to horses for signaling in cavalry charges, and remains preserved in classical poetry and literary compounds.
Famous in classical Chinese literature due to Bai Juyi's epic poem 'Song of Everlasting Regret', which mentions the 'drums of Yuyang' (渔阳鼙鼓) shaking the earth.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
bì
The Sino-Vietnamese reading 'bì' aligns with entering or rising checked registers depending on historical dialect layers.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: ヒ
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
비
Sound Shift Bridge: The initial 'p' maps across East Asian borrowings reliably as a bilabial stop.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
A soldier rides on horseback across the battlefield, strapped with a small drum (鼔) that beats rapidly while he bows low (卑) to dodge incoming arrows.