批
to ascertain; to act on; to criticize; to pass on; tier (for the ranking of universities and colleges)
Closest English meanings
batch·criticize
The Calligrapher — Mǐ Fú 米芾
Song eccentric genius of dynamic, 'flying' running script.
Song calligrapher (1051–1107), master of running script — Song eccentric genius ('crazy Zhang, idiot Mi') whose running script alternates discipline with glee. Song dynasty
Cultural Story
批 is to strike with the flat hand, then to write on the margin. The 紅樓夢 survives in the 脂砚斋 批 — the red-ink comments a reader scrawled beside the text — and the word kept both the slap and the note. The hand with 比, to compare, is the judgment laid alongside. It is the critique and the cuff.
Common words & phrases
- 批准 approve
- 批评 criticize
- 批量 batch · volume
- 批发 wholesale
- 一批 a batch
Read the story behind the character
批 is the verdict and the volume: 批准 the permit, 批评 the review, 批量 the order, 批发 the warehouse. 一批 is the shipment on the dock. It names the approval that opens a door and the heap that moves by the crate, the comment and the count.
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