版 (bǎn): a register, block of printing, edition

版 (bǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “a register.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 片 (semantic) and 反 (phonetic). It ranks #810 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 版 page. Its radical form 片 (slice) appears in many related characters such as 片 (piàn, thin piece), 牌 (pái, signboard).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. a register
  2. block of printing
  3. edition

Etymology & Origin

版

pictophoneticpage

Decomposition: ⿰片反 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Practice writing 版 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 版

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
出版verbchū bǎnto publish5
版本nounbǎn běnversion6
电子版noundiàn zǐ bǎnelectronic edition5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
头版nountóu bǎn(newspaper's) front page
出版社nounchū bǎn shèpublishing house
版权nounbǎn quáncopyright
版面nounbǎn miànpage of a publication (e.g. newspaper or website)
盗版verbdào bǎnpirated
翻版nounfān bǎnto reprint
出版物nounchū bǎn wùpublications
版税nounbǎn shuìroyalty (on books)
版图nounbǎn túdomain
绝版verbjué bǎnout of print
排版verbpái bǎntypesetting
新版nounxīn bǎnnew edition
版块nounbǎn kuàiprinting block
改版verbgǎi bǎnto revise the current edition
模版mú bǎnvariant of 模板
85
Total compounds
16
As first character
58
As last character
26
As middle character

版 appears in 85 compound words: 16 as the first character, 58 as the last, and 26 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 版 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

出chū
0.632502,968 co-occurrences
社shè
0.610191,416 co-occurrences
本běn
0.592300,758 co-occurrences
碟dié
0.4426,622 co-occurrences
刷shuā
0.4417,662 co-occurrences
漫màn
0.39210,906 co-occurrences
文wén
0.39178,124 co-occurrences
限xiàn
0.38221,054 co-occurrences
籍jí
0.37614,422 co-occurrences
翻fān
0.3718,442 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (5)

版权所有bǎnquán suǒyǒuHSK 5+

all rights reserved

phrase
胶版印刷jiāo bǎn yìn shuāHSK 6+

offset printing

phrase
孔版印刷kǒng bǎn yìn shuāHSK 7+

screen printing

phrase
凸版印刷tū bǎn yìn shuāHSK 7+

relief printing; typography; printing with metal plates

phrase
西双版纳XīshuāngbǎnnàHSK 6+

Xishuangbanna (an autonomous prefecture of Yunnan, China)

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个版字在古汉语中有不同的含义。

zhè gě bǎn zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .

This character "版" had different meanings in Classical Chinese.

99 健康网Feb 2026

...糖的食品有哪些?饮料、糕点、酸奶都有无糖版吗

. . . táng de shí pǐn yǒu nǎ xiē ? yǐn liào , gāo diǎn , suān nǎi dōu yǒu wú táng bǎn ma

... What are the foods with sugar? Do drinks, pastries, and yogurt have sugar-free versions?

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

川普政府传考虑扩大“232关税”版图 新增六类产业课征国安税

chuān pǔ zhèng fǔ chuán kǎo lǜ kuò dà 2 3 2 guān shuì bǎn tú xīn zēng liù lèi chǎn yè kè zhēng guó ān shuì

The Trump administration is rumored to be considering expanding the territory of the "232 tariffs" and adding six new types of industries to impose national security taxes

LtnFeb 2026

张立昂首挑战日版《七色》 疗愈声线连日本歌手都服了

zhāng lì áng shǒu tiāo zhàn rì bǎn qī sè liáo yù shēng xiàn lián rì běn gē shǒu dōu fú le

Zhang Li challenged the Japanese version of "Seven Colors" with his head held high, and even Japanese singers were convinced by his healing voice

StheadlineFeb 2026

...犬离世 研宠物健康App 目标打造“宠物版医健通”

. . . quǎn lí shì yán chǒng wù jiàn kāng A p p mù biāo dǎ zào chǒng wù bǎn yī jiàn tōng

... The dog passed away, and the pet health app aims to create a "pet version of medical health"

It之家Feb 2026

...I Turbo 5 Max 手机 1T 版本备货极少,卖完就没了

. . . I T u r b o 5 M a x shǒu jī 1 T bǎn běn bèi huò jí shǎo , mài wán jiù méi le

... The I Turbo 5 Max phone 1T version is in very little stock and is sold out

Tatoeba

我妥善保管原版拷贝。

Wǒ tuǒshàn bǎoguǎn yuán bǎn kǎobèi.

I keep the master copy under lock and key.

Tatoeba

你有听过那首歌的法文版本吗?

Nǐ yǒu tīng guo nà shǒu gē de Fǎwén bǎnběn ma?

Have you ever heard that song sung in French?

Tatoeba

第一还是第二的版本比较齐全?

Dìyī háishi dì'èr de bǎnběn bǐjiào qíquán?

Which is more complete, the first edition or the second?

Tatoeba

你喜欢盗版电影吗?

Nǐ xǐhuan dàobǎn diànyǐng ma?

Do you like pirate movies?

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 片 (page) component

片 Radical Family — Characters sharing the slice radical

Related Characters

Homophones — Characters pronounced bǎn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 版 (bǎn) mean in Chinese?
版 (bǎn) primarily means "a register." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #810 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 版 and 饭?
版 (bǎn) and 饭 (fàn) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 片 vs 饣 (same 反 component).
How many strokes does 版 have?
版 is written with 8 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 版?
The radical associated with 版 is 片 (slice). This radical appears in many characters related to slice.
What are the components of 版?
版 is composed of: 片 (semantic), 反 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰片反 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 版?
Common words with 版 include: 出版 (chū bǎn, "to publish"); 版本 (bǎn běn, "version"); 头版 (tóu bǎn, "(newspaper's) front page"); 出版社 (chū bǎn shè, "publishing house"); 版权 (bǎn quán, "copyright"). There are over 85 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 版 (bǎn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation bǎn: 板 (board, plank), 扳 (to pull), 办 (to take care of (a matter)), 半 (half), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 版 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 版 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 版 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.