坯 (pī): blank (e.g. for a coin), unburnt earthenware, semifinished product

坯 (pī) is a Chinese character meaning “blank (e.g. for a coin).” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 土 (semantic) and 丕 (phonetic). It ranks #4221 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 坯 earth. Its radical form 土 (earth) appears in many related characters such as 土 (tǔ, earth, soil), 地 (dì, earth, ground), 场 (chǎng, field, place).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. blank (e.g. for a coin)
  2. unburnt earthenware
  3. semifinished product

Etymology & Origin

坯

pictophoneticearth

Decomposition: ⿰土丕 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
坯子pī zibase
毛坯nounmáo pīsemifinished products
美人坯子měi rén pī zisee 美人胚子
毛坯房máo pī fángundecorated residential unit
坯件pī jiànblank (for a coin etc)
拉坯lā pīto make ceramics (on a potter's wheel)
坯布pī bùunbleached and undyed cloth
坯料nounpī liàosemifinished materials
土坯nountǔ pīmud brick
坯模pī múmold
硬币坯yìng bì pīcoin blank
钢坯gāng pībillet (steel industry)
扁坯biǎn pīslab
13
Total compounds
38
As first character
46
As last character
15
As middle character

坯 appears in 13 compound words: 38 as the first character, 46 as the last, and 15 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Example Sentences

少数派Sep 2026

补全驱动 回到我这台机器,除了几乎没有使用痕迹,它的“毛坯房”状态在于驱动并不完整。

bǔ quán qū dòng huí dào wǒ zhè tái jī qì , chú le jǐ hū méi yǒu shǐ yòng hén jì , tā de máo pī fáng zhuàng tài zài yú qū dòng bìng bù wán zhěng .

Installing the Missing Drivers: Coming back to this machine, aside from showing almost no signs of use, its “as-is” condition is due to the fact that the drivers are incomplete.

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

潘安政深知贺兰砚制作工序繁琐,选石相石、修坯凿形、设计雕刻、打磨上蜡,步步不能急躁。

pān ān zhèng shēn zhī hè lán yàn zhì zuò gōng xù fán suǒ , xuǎn shí xiāng shí , xiū pī záo xíng , shè jì diāo kè , dǎ mó shàng là , bù bù bù néng jí zào .

Pan Anzheng was well aware that the process of making Helan inkstones is intricate—from selecting and examining the stone, to shaping the rough block and carving the form, to designing and engraving, and finally polishing and waxing—and that each step must be carried out with patience.

中国新闻网·生活Sep 2026

在营养和食品安全之外,面包店使用冷冻坯现烤,还有什么问题值得关注?

zài yíng yǎng hé shí pǐn ān quán zhī wài , miàn bāo diàn shǐ yòng lěng dòng pī xiàn kǎo , hái yǒu shén me wèn tí zhí dé guān zhù ?

Aside from nutrition and food safety, what other issues should we be concerned about when bakeries use frozen dough to bake fresh bread?

少数派Sep 2026

而在更早的 23 年佩德森就已经骑上新车毛坯架了。

ér zài gèng zǎo de 2 3 nián pèi dé sēn jiù yǐ jīng qí shàng xīn chē máo pī jià le .

As early as 2023, Pedersen had already been riding a new bike with a bare frame.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

下河沿陶社内,培训师常佳美教顾客拉坯。

xià hé yán táo shè nèi , péi xùn shī cháng jiā měi jiào gù kè lā pī .

At the Xiaheyan Pottery Studio, instructor Chang Jiamai is teaching customers how to throw clay on a potter’s wheel.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 土 (earth) component

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 坯 (pī) mean in Chinese?
坯 (pī) primarily means "blank (e.g. for a coin)." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #4221 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 坯 and 胚?
坯 (pī) and 胚 (pēi) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 土 vs 肉 (same 丕 component).
How many strokes does 坯 have?
坯 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 坯?
The radical associated with 坯 is 土 (earth). This radical appears in many characters related to earth.
What are the components of 坯?
坯 is composed of: 土 (semantic), 丕 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰土丕 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 坯?
Common words with 坯 include: 坯子 (pī zi, "base"); 毛坯 (máo pī, "semifinished products"); 美人坯子 (měi rén pī zi, "see 美人胚子"); 毛坯房 (máo pī fáng, "undecorated residential unit"); 坯件 (pī jiàn, "blank (for a coin etc)"). There are over 13 compound words containing this character.
Is 坯 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 坯 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 坯 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.