被
quilt; to cover (with); (literary) to suffer (a misfortune); used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, if the doer is not mentioned, before the verb); (since c. 2009) (sarcastic or jocular) used to indicate that the following word should be regarded as being in air quotes (as in 被旅遊|被旅游[bei4 lu : 3 you2] to "go on a trip")
Closest English meanings
quilt·by (passive)·cover·suffer·bedding
The Calligrapher — Wáng Xīzhī 王羲之
The 'Sage of Calligraphy'; his running script has set the standard for 1,700 years.
Eastern Jin calligrapher (303–361), master of running script/cursive script/regular script — the Sage of Calligraphy; his Orchid Pavilion Preface is the most celebrated work in the tradition, and nearly every later master traces lineage to his hand. Eastern Jin dynasty
Cultural Story
In the Mountain Spirit, a song of the Nine Songs, the goddess is described as wearing creeping fig and girdled with ivy, bei Bi Li xi dai Nü Luo, the bei here meaning to put on, to cover the body with green. The character began as the act of throwing cloth over oneself before it meant the cloth itself.
Common words & phrases
- 被子 quilt · duvet · comforter · blanket
- 被动 passive · passively · reactively · forced
- 被迫 forced · compelled · coerced · obliged
- 被褥 bedding · quilt and mattress · bedclothes · linen
- 棉被 cotton quilt · quilt · duvet · comforter
- 被告 defendant · accused · the accused · party
Read the story behind the character
A bedroom holds a bei zi quilt on the bed, and the grammar lesson explains the bei dong passive voice, the wrong done bei po, forced, upon someone. The hospital lists a bei gao defendant, and the linen cupboard stacks bei ru bedding above a mian bei cotton quilt. The character is both the cover and the mark of what happens to us.
Own this character
Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Wáng Xīzhī 王羲之, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.