Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

soldiers; a force; an army; weapons; arms; military

Chinese: 士兵、军队或兵器。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “bing” becomes a different word in each tone. 兵 is the 1st tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.

Stroke Order

Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.

Common Words

  • 士兵shì bīngsoldier
  • 官兵guān bīng(military) officers and soldiers; officers and men; (old) government troops
  • 大兵dà bīngsoldier; large army; powerful army; (old) large-scale war
  • 出兵chū bīngto send troops
  • 发兵fā bīngto dispatch an army; to send troops

Example Sentence

战场上的士兵很勇敢。Zhàn chǎng shàng de shì bīng hěn yǒng gǎn.The soldiers on the battlefield are very brave.

战场Zhàn chǎngbattlefieldshàngondeof士兵shì bīngsoldierhěnvery勇敢yǒng gǎnbrave

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

Two hands (the bottom) holding up an axe (斤, the top): weapons in hand — ‘weapons, arms; a soldier, troops; the army, military; a pawn (in chess)’ (士兵, 当兵, 兵器).

A way to remember it

Hands gripping an axe (斤) — weapons; a soldier.