How to Write 孛 (bèi) — Meaning “comet (archaic); flourishing”

Imagine ten little children (十 and 子) running around so wildly that they look like a comet with a bright head and a long tail. The "ten" children form the bright head, and the "child" part becomes the tail. This funny image helps you link the shape to the meaning of a comet.

First write the top part 十: a horizontal stroke left to right, then a vertical stroke top to bottom crossing the center. Then write the bottom 子: start with a horizontal hook (横钩), then a vertical hook (竖钩) curving left, and finally a horizontal line at the bottom. A common mistake is making the top part like 亠 (dot over line) instead of 十, so be sure to write a clear cross.

孛 has a top part that looks like the number ten (十), while 孕 has a top part like 乃 (a curved shape) and means pregnant, and 字 has a roof shape 宀 on top and means character or word. Visually, 孛 is more square and balanced, while 孕 looks like something round and 字 has a roof covering the child. Their meanings are completely different, so focus on the top component to tell them apart.

孛 is rarely used in everyday modern Chinese; it appears mainly in classical texts or as a surname. You might see it in the word 孛星 (bèi xīng) meaning comet in ancient astronomy, or in 孛老 (bèi lǎo) referring to an old man role in traditional opera. It also appears in 孛篮 (bèi lán), a type of basket, but these are specialized terms, not common vocabulary.

Common words containing 孛 include: 孛星 (bèi xīng) — comet; 孛老 (bèi lǎo) — an old man character in traditional opera; 孛篮 (bèi lán) — a type of basket.