脾
Character Story & Explanation
In daily life, 脾 appears most often in health discussions, TCM consultations, and nutrition advice — e.g., ‘spleen qi deficiency’ (脾虚 pí xū) is a widely recognized diagnosis in China, linked to fatigue, poor appetite, and bloating. It’s also used idiomatically: 脾气 (píqì) means ‘temper’ or ‘disposition’, literally ‘spleen energy’ — reflecting ancient beliefs that the spleen influences emotional balance.
The character’s form isn’t pictographic but phono-semantic: left side ⺼ signals body/organ; right side 卑 (bēi) provides phonetic cue. No oracle bone or bronze script form survives for 脾 — it first appears reliably in Han dynasty texts. Today, patients in Beijing or Chengdu might hear their doctor say ‘注意养脾’ (zhùyì yǎng pí — ‘pay attention to nourishing your spleen’) during seasonal health checkups.
Hi students! Today we’ll learn the character 脾 (pí), meaning 'spleen' — one of the five major organs in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and modern anatomy. It’s a Level 4 HSK character, so it appears in intermediate textbooks and medical or health-related contexts. The character has 12 strokes and belongs to the ⺼ (‘flesh’ or ‘body part’) radical — which tells us right away it relates to the human body.
Don’t worry — you won’t need to diagnose spleen deficiency on your first day! But understanding 脾 helps you talk about digestion, energy, and even emotions in Chinese. In TCM, the spleen governs transformation and transportation of food and qi — not just blood filtration like in Western medicine. This cultural layer makes 脾 richer than just an anatomical term.
Notice how the right side, 卑 (bēi), gives the sound — this is a common phonetic component. Many characters with 卑 (like 卑微 bēiwēi ‘humble’) share that ‘bi’-like pronunciation. So when you see 脾, think: ‘flesh + sound of bēi = pí’. That pattern helps you remember both pronunciation and structure!
Example Sentences
Common Compounds
Similar Characters — Don't Mix These Up
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