辩 (biàn): to dispute, to debate, to argue
辩 (biàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to dispute.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辛 (structural), 讠 (structural) and 辛 (structural). It ranks #1347 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 辩 a bitter 辛 exchange of words 讠. Its radical form 辛 (bitter) appears in many related characters such as 辣 (là, hot (spicy)), 辛 (xīn, (of taste) hot or pungent), 辞 (cí, to resign).
Definitions
- to dispute
- to debate
- to argue
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA bitter 辛 exchange of words 讠
Decomposition: ⿲辛讠辛 (layout: left-middle-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 辩 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 辩护verb | biàn hù | to speak in defense of |
| 辩论verb | biàn lùn | debate |
| 辩解verb | biàn jiě | to explain |
| 争辩verb | zhēng biàn | a dispute |
| 抗辩verb | kàng biàn | to counter accusations |
| 辩护人noun | biàn hù rén | defender |
| 狡辩verb | jiǎo biàn | to deflect blame from oneself with a dishonest story |
| 辩称verb | biàn chēng | to argue (that) |
| 辩驳verb | biàn bó | to dispute |
| 雄辩noun | xióng biàn | eloquent |
| 答辩verb | dá biàn | to reply (to an accusation) |
| 申辩verb | shēn biàn | to defend oneself |
| 诡辩verb | guǐ biàn | specious arguments |
| 辩白verb | biàn bái | to offer an explanation |
| 辩证法noun | biàn zhèng fǎ | dialectics |
辩 appears in 56 compound words: 46 as the first character, 41 as the last, and 13 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 辩 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Showing 3 of 4 idioms containing 辩.
Example Sentences
辩字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。
biàn zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .
The character "辩" may be difficult to write, but its meaning is quite interesting.
吴宗宪披蓝袍选宜兰!张育萌曝“替签赌辩护”轰:挑战台湾人底线
wú zōng xiàn pī lán páo xuǎn yí lán ! zhāng yù méng pù tì qiān dǔ biàn hù hōng : tiāo zhàn tái wān rén de xiàn
Wu Zongxian wore a blue robe and chose Yilan! Zhang Yumeng revealed that he was "defending the gambling game" and booming: challenging the bottom line of Taiwanese
【日常辩证】王小慧/排队人生
rì cháng biàn zhèng wáng xiǎo huì pái duì rén shēng
【Daily Dialectic】Wang Xiaohui/Queuing Life
【日常辩证】老瓶子/享受夕阳之美
rì cháng biàn zhèng lǎo píng zǐ xiǎng shòu xī yáng zhī měi
【Daily dialectic】Old bottle/enjoy the beauty of the sunset
杜特蒂律师ICC出庭辩护 称检方无法举证、毒品战争难定罪
dù tè dì lǜ shī I C C chū tíng biàn hù chèn jiǎn fāng wú fǎ jǔ zhèng , dú pǐn zhàn zhēng nán dìng zuì
Duterte's lawyer appeared in court at the ICC to defend himself, saying that the prosecution could not provide evidence and that it was difficult to convict him of a drug war
...扭蛋店社长偷拍女客裙底 手机藏2千部影片辩“压力大忍不住”
. . . niǔ dàn diàn shè cháng tōu pāi nǚ kè qún de shǒu jī zàng 2 qiān bù yǐng piàn biàn yā lì dà rěn bù zhù
... The president of the gachapon shop secretly filmed the female customer's upskirt and hid 2,000 videos on his mobile phone to defend "the pressure is so high that I can't help it"
雄辩如银，沉默如金。
Xióngbiàn rú yín, chénmò rú jīn.
Eloquence is silver, silence is golden.
我在给魔鬼当辩护士。
Wǒ zài gěi móguǐ dāng biànhùshì.
I'm just playing the devil's advocate.
我们在世界人口问题上争辩了一番。
Wǒmen zàishì jiè rénkǒu wèntí shàng zhēngbiàn le yī fān.
We debated on the question of world population.
我无意争辩你的理论。
Wǒ wúyì zhēngbiàn nǐ de lǐlùn.
I have no intention in arguing about your theory.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 辩 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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