ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

cup / glass

bēi
8 strokes · 木 (wood radical) + 不 (sound) — originally a wooden cup · HSK 1

Where 杯 comes from

杯 pairs wood 木 with 不 for sound — the earliest Chinese cups were carved from wood (and lacquered beautifully). The material changed to porcelain and glass; the wooden radical stayed as a fossil of the first cups.

杯 in Chinese culture

杯 measures drinks: 一杯水 (a cup of water), 一杯茶 (a cup of tea — with 茶 you learned), 干杯 ('dry the cup' — cheers!). At a Chinese banquet 干杯 taken literally means bottoms-up, so pace yourself. The World Cup is 世界杯 — the same humble cup, scaled to planetary size.

Example

干杯 gānbēi — cheers! (bottoms up)

请给我一杯水。
Qǐng gěi wǒ yì bēi shuǐ.
Please give me a glass of water.

How to remember it

Wood 木 that is NOT 不 a tree anymore — carved into a CUP.

干杯 'dry the cup' is cognate in spirit with Japanese kanpai and Korean geonbae — same characters, same toast, three languages.

Same sound, different tones

1st bēi
cup
3rd běi
north
4th bèi
by (passive)

Words unlocked by 杯

一杯水 yì bēi shuǐ
a glass of water
干杯 gānbēi
cheers
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