How to Write 瓣 (bàn) — Meaning “petal or segment”

Imagine a melon (瓜) being sliced into many small pieces (辡 looks like two crossed knives or cuts). Each piece becomes a "segment" or "petal." This helps you remember that 瓣 refers to a natural division of something round, like a flower or fruit.

Start with the left radical 瓜 (4 strokes), then the right part 辡 (15 strokes) for a total of 19. The left side should be narrow and smaller, while the right side is wider. A common mistake is to make the left radical too large or to forget the short horizontal stroke in the middle of 辡.

花瓣 (huā bàn) means flower petal, used when talking about flowers. 蒜瓣 (suàn bàn) means a clove of garlic, common in cooking contexts. 豆瓣 (dòu bàn) refers to split beans or broad beans, often seen in food names like 豆瓣酱 (dòu bàn jiàng, broad bean paste).

瓣 is used for natural segments of plants or foods, especially in daily life and cooking. In Chinese culture, the number of 花瓣 on a flower can have symbolic meanings, such as peach blossoms with five petals representing luck. However, 瓣 itself is not a high-frequency character and is not in the HSK list, so it is mainly learned for specific vocabulary.

Common words containing 瓣 include: 花瓣 (huā bàn) — Petal; 蒜瓣 (suàn bàn) — garlic clove; 豆瓣 (dòu bàn) — split bean; broad bean.