How to Write 殡 (bìn) — Meaning “to prepare a body for burial; funeral”

Imagine a dead person (歹) is being treated like a special guest (宾) at a funeral home. This visual of a guest of honor at a funeral helps you link the parts to the meaning of preparing a body for burial.

Write the radical 歹 first: stroke order is horizontal line, left-falling stroke, then a horizontal hook, and finally a dot. Then add 宾 on the right: its top is a dot, then a dot, a horizontal hook, a left-falling stroke, a vertical line, a horizontal line, a vertical line, a horizontal fold, a left-falling stroke, and a dot. Common mistakes include forgetting the dot in 歹 or making the right side too narrow.

殡 has the component 宾 (guest), while 殖 has 直 (straight) and means "to breed" or "grow," and 殗 has 奄 (cover) and means "to die prematurely." Visually, 殡's right side is more complex with a roof-like top, while 殖 uses a simple horizontal and vertical pattern, and 殗 has a drooping cover shape.

殡 appears in formal funeral vocabulary like 殡仪馆 (funeral parlor) and 出殡 (funeral procession). It specifically refers to the preparation and handling of the body before burial, not the burial itself. In Chinese culture, funerals are serious events, so 殡 is used respectfully and never in casual conversation.

Common words containing 殡 include: 殡仪馆 (bìn yí guǎn) — funeral parlor; mortuary; 出殡 (chū bìn) — funeral procession; 殡葬 (bìn zàng) — funeral and burial.