(pén): basin, flower pot, unit of volume equal to 12 斗 and 8 升, approx 128 liters

(pén) is a Chinese character meaning “basin.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (phonetic) and (semantic). It ranks #2004 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, dish. Its radical form (dish) appears in many related characters such as (, benefit), (yán, salt), (gài, lid).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. basin
  2. flower pot
  3. unit of volume equal to 12 斗 and 8 升, approx 128 liters

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticdish

Decomposition: ⿱分皿 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
yù pénbathtub
gǔ pénpelvis
pén zāito grow (a plant) in a pot
pén zibasin
qīng pén dà yǔ(idiom) a downpour
huā pénflower pot
zǎo pénbath tub
便biàn pénbed pan
pén dì(geography) basin
pén qiāngthe pelvic cavity
huǒ pénbrazier
pén jǐngbonsai
lín pénat childbirth
liǎn pénwashbowl
尿niào pénchamber pot
58
Total compounds
17
As first character
45
As last character
38
As middle character

appears in 58 compound words: 17 as the first character, 45 as the last, and 38 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

zāi
0.5473,341 co-occurrences
0.5358,850 co-occurrences
qiāng
0.4871,944 co-occurrences
0.48049,002 co-occurrences
yǒng
0.462324 co-occurrences
0.4572,598 co-occurrences
0.4422,028 co-occurrences
qīng
0.4401,143 co-occurrences
wǎn
0.410430 co-occurrences
0.399552 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (8)

qīngpéndàyǔHSK 6+

rain cats and dogs; downpour

phrase
Sìchuān PéndìHSK 7+

Sichuan Basin

guōwǎnpiáopénHSK 5+

woks, bowls, gourd ladles and basins; items of the kitchen; pots and pans

phrase
YúlánpénhuìHSK 6+

Ghost Festival; Ullambana Festival

Showing 4 of 8 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

了解字的来源,有助于理解中国文化。

le xiè pén zì de lái yuán , yǒu zhù yú lǐ xiè zhōng guó wén huā .

Understanding the origin of the character "盆" (pen) helps to comprehend Chinese culture.

99 健康网Mar 2026

老年人子宫下垂的治疗有哪些?底重建可保留子宫吗

lǎo nián rén zǐ gōng xià chuí de zhì liáo yǒu nǎ xiē ? pén de chóng jiàn kě bǎo liú zǐ gōng ma

What are the treatments for uterine ptosis in the elderly? Can pelvic floor reconstruction preserve the uterus?

StheadlineFeb 2026

星岛申诉王|菜被嫌劣食 屏山传人坚守柴火制菜 父女...

xīng dǎo shēn sù wáng pén cài bèi xián liè shí bǐng shān chuán rén jiān shǒu chái huǒ zhì pén cài fù nǚ . . .

Sing Tao Appeal King|Poon Choi was suspected of being inferior food, and the descendants of Ping Shan insisted on making poon choi with firewood Father and daughter...

99 健康网Feb 2026

女孩子下面窄到一根手指都疼是怎么回事?和底肌过度紧张有关吗

nǚ hái zǐ xià miàn zhǎi dào yī gēn shǒu zhǐ dōu téng shì zěn má huí shì ? hé pén de jī guò dù jǐn zhāng yǒu guān ma

What's going on with a girl who is so narrow that a finger hurts? Is it related to excessive tension in the pelvic floor muscles?

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

在即老公睡翻!产妇苦笑“东西丢光都叫不醒...

lín pén zài jí lǎo gōng shuì fān ! chǎn fù kǔ xiào dōng xī diū guāng dōu jiào bù xǐng . . .

My husband fell asleep when he was about to give birth! The mother smiled bitterly: "I can't wake up even if I lose everything...

99 健康网Feb 2026

男生小便后甩一甩会不会导致尿失禁?底肌松弛者需谨慎吗

nán shēng xiǎo biàn hòu shuǎi yī shuǎi huì bù huì dǎo zhì niào shī jīn ? pén de jī sōng chí zhě xū jǐn shèn ma

Will a boy's throw after urinating cause urinary incontinence? Should people with loose pelvic floor muscles be cautious?

Tatoeba

今晚正在下倾大雨。

Jīnwǎn zhèngzài xià qīngpéndàyǔ.

It's raining cats and dogs tonight.

Tatoeba

她更新了花里的土。

Tā gēngxīn le huāpén lǐ de tǔ.

She renewed the soil in the flower pot.

Tatoeba

他们冒着倾大雨出发了。

Tāmen màozhe qīngpéndàyǔ chūfā le.

They started in spite of the heavy rain.

Tatoeba

这是覆子的颜色。

Zhè shì fùpénzǐ de yánsè.

It's the colour of raspberries.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced pén

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 盆 (pén) mean in Chinese?
盆 (pén) primarily means "basin." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #2004 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 盆 and 纷?
盆 (pén) and 纷 (fēn) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 皿 vs 纟 (same 分 component).
How many strokes does 盆 have?
盆 is written with 9 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 盆?
The radical associated with 盆 is 皿 (dish). This radical appears in many characters related to dish.
What are the components of 盆?
盆 is composed of: 分 (phonetic), 皿 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱分皿 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 盆?
Common words with 盆 include: 浴盆 (yù pén, "bathtub"); 骨盆 (gǔ pén, "pelvis"); 盆栽 (pén zāi, "to grow (a plant) in a pot"); 盆子 (pén zi, "basin"); 倾盆大雨 (qīng pén dà yǔ, "(idiom) a downpour"). There are over 58 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 盆 (pén)?
Several characters share the pronunciation pén: 喷 (to spout). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 盆 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 盆 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.