How to Write 枰 (píng) — Meaning “chessboard”

Imagine a flat wooden board (木) that is perfectly level (平) — this is a chessboard. You can think of the right part 平 as reminding you that the board must be flat for playing chess.

Write the left radical 木 with the vertical stroke going straight down, then the right part 平 starts with a horizontal stroke, then two dots and a vertical. A common mistake is making the left 木 too wide or writing the right 平 with an extra stroke — remember 平 has exactly five strokes.

枰 is used in literary or formal contexts when discussing chess, especially in the term 棋枰 (qí píng) for a chessboard, and 枰场 (píng chǎng) for a chess arena. It appears in classical poetry and essays about the game of Go or Chinese chess, reflecting the cultural importance of board games in Chinese history.

Common words containing 枰 include: 棋枰 (qí píng) — chessboard; 枰面 (píng miàn) — surface of a chessboard; 枰场 (píng chǎng) — chess arena.