Read Edit View history 北 běi HSK1 north Origin Definitions Defs Strokes Stroke Words Sentences Sents Basic Details Gloss Iconic Gloss Original Meaning Hint Pictograph of two people standing back-to-back. Based on the original meaning "back", now written as 背. The current meaning "north" is a phonetic loan. Pinyin Separate values with commas běi × Add Simplified Variants Separate values with commas Add Traditional Variants Separate values with commas Add Variant Of Components No items. + Add component Stroke Data 北 Stroke Data (Simp) — JSON { "source": "dong", "medians": [ [ [ 341, 707 ], [ 367, 685 ], [ 388, 652 ], [ 386, 287 ], [ 376, 177 ], [ 381, 102 ] ], [ [ 160, 418 ], [ 189, 411 ], [ 227, 414 ], [ 334, 443 ], [ 352, 459 ] ], [ [ 129, 129 ], [ 187, 113 ], [ 323, 169 ], [ 338, 191 ] ], [ [ 786, 581 ], [ 796, 567 ], [ 805, 529 ], [ 751, 489 ], [ 609, 404 ], [ 607, 390 ] ], [ [ 534, 781 ], [ 573, 755 ], [ 590, 727 ], [ 574, 562 ], [ 569, 334 ], [ 579, 183 ], [ 599, 134 ], [ 640, 97 ], [ 709, 78 ], [ 793, 76 ], [ 844, 83 ], [ 873, 95 ], [ 893, 111 ], [ 895, 126 ], [ 896, 291 ] ] ], "strokes": [ "M 343 159 Q 343 147 361 108 Q 368 92 375 89 Q 381 83 388 90 Q 395 94 405 115 Q 408 124 412 224 Q 406 578 426 645 Q 433 660 431 672 Q 424 682 371 713 Q 349 729 330 714 Q 326 710 331 694 Q 352 666 358 585 Q 361 522 361 466 L 361 426 Q 361 249 344 197 L 343 159 Z", "M 361 466 Q 345 470 331 466 Q 208 436 163 431 Q 150 430 148 421 Q 145 411 161 400 Q 200 375 241 390 Q 302 415 361 426 C 390 432 390 460 361 466 Z", "M 344 197 Q 263 173 169 148 Q 154 144 129 145 Q 116 144 113 131 Q 112 116 122 108 Q 147 90 185 70 Q 197 67 210 77 Q 244 108 343 159 C 370 173 373 205 344 197 Z", "M 597 384 Q 772 472 828 489 Q 837 492 848 494 Q 876 501 867 524 Q 857 546 829 570 Q 804 592 788 592 Q 773 593 775 576 Q 772 534 680 471 Q 640 443 598 411 C 574 393 570 371 597 384 Z", "M 942 82 Q 961 100 940 135 Q 916 198 908 279 Q 908 291 899 300 Q 887 306 884 280 Q 877 250 867 201 Q 860 153 846 134 Q 840 121 815 116 Q 776 106 722 110 Q 682 111 656 122 Q 619 137 607 181 Q 595 220 597 384 L 598 411 Q 598 570 626 682 Q 632 712 638 719 Q 648 744 627 759 Q 596 787 554 797 Q 533 801 524 792 Q 515 782 523 771 Q 548 750 549 671 Q 534 262 555 169 Q 570 114 611 82 Q 680 31 846 44 Q 862 47 878 50 Q 923 63 942 82 Z" ] } 5 strokes 北 Stroke Data (Trad) — JSON { "source": "animcjk", "medians": [ [ [ 333, 709 ], [ 392, 650 ], [ 383, 153 ] ], [ [ 151, 422 ], [ 217, 412 ], [ 368, 454 ] ], [ [ 118, 109 ], [ 191, 89 ], [ 462, 172 ] ], [ [ 597, 440 ], [ 870, 489 ] ], [ [ 522, 787 ], [ 594, 724 ], [ 570, 313 ], [ 600, 129 ], [ 708, 76 ], [ 880, 98 ], [ 901, 134 ], [ 897, 294 ] ] ], "strokes": [ "M407,169C409,187 411,601 426,645C429,656 434,665 431,672C427,680 405,692 371,713C355,723 342,725 330,714C327,712 325,704 331,694C342,674 354,639 358,585C360,543 361,504 361,466C361,439 361,439 361,426C361,308 357,216 356,158C356,141 407,152 407,169Z", "M361,466C319,458 193,435 163,431C154,431 149,427 148,421C146,415 150,408 161,400C187,384 213,380 241,390C281,407 321,419 361,426C374,429 374,469 361,466Z", "M443,177C432,175 419,172 407,169C373,162 373,162 356,158C295,145 225,135 169,126C158,125 145,125 129,125C120,125 114,120 113,111C111,102 115,94 122,88C138,76 159,62 185,50C192,47 201,50 210,57C233,78 374,111 442,141C485,161 476,185 443,177Z", "M598,429C720,452 826,453 850,459C872,466 881,489 869,499C852,514 833,516 816,515C765,509 751,494 599,468C586,465 585,426 598,429Z", "M942,82C954,95 951,111 940,135C921,176 912,225 908,279C907,287 905,296 899,300C891,306 887,298 884,280C880,260 872,234 867,201C861,170 854,148 846,134C840,126 831,119 815,116C769,108 705,106 656,122C630,131 615,152 607,181C599,208 595,320 598,429C599,455 599,455 599,468C601,574 614,659 638,719C644,736 640,748 627,759C605,777 582,791 554,797C540,801 529,799 524,792C517,786 516,778 523,771C538,756 550,724 549,671C541,399 541,232 555,169C585,31 736,24 846,44C867,48 867,48 878,50C908,56 929,70 942,82Z" ] } 5 strokes Historical Pronunciations Source baxter-sagartzhengzhangtang Middle Chinese Old Chinese Gloss + Add historical pronunciation Sources × Quick add: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》李学勤《字源》zi.toolsChinese Text Project許進雄《簡明中國文字學》 + Add source Verified Edit Comment (required) Submit Edit Note: The form works without JavaScript but the tag/list editors are simplified.