平

Stroke order

Stroke order

平 (Kangxi radical 51, 干+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 一火十 (MFJ), four-corner 1040₉, composition ⿻干丷(GHTJV) or ⿻干八(K))

• 伻, 呯, 坪, 㛁, 岼, 𪪭, 怦, 抨, 泙, 𨸶, 𫯡, 𪰓, 胓, 枰, 𤇊, 𤘾, 玶, 𨒳, 𪜉, 𬑈, 砰, 秤, 𥹒, 𮈈, 䍈, 䍬, 蚲, 評 (评), 軯, 𨥾, 𢆠, 駍 (𬳴), 鮃 (鲆), 䶄, 𢆊, 𢆕, 㼞, 𨠟, 𪪇, 匉, 𰃯, 苹, 𢆓, 𤵣, 𬔳, 閛, 𡊞

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 339, character 3
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9167
• Dae Jaweon: page 646, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 407, character 1
• Unihan data for U+5E73

Historical forms of the character 平
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Uncertain. Various explanations include:

• According to the Shuowen, 八 (“division”) + 亏 (“exhaled air”) — the smooth flow of speech.
• Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ben, *beŋ) : phonetic 釆 () + semantic 二 (“two equal lines”) (Lin Yiguang, 1920)
• A pictogram (象形) of waterweed spread flat on the surface of water. Original form of 苹 (OC *beŋ, “duckweed”). (Lawrence J. Howell)
• Pictogram (象形) of a balance scale. (Karlgren, 1973)

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(p/b)ljaŋ (“plank; palm; flat surface; wing”), whence Jingpho phun-pyen (phun⁵⁵ pjen³³, “plank”) and Burmese ပြန့် (pran., “flat and even”) (STEDT).

平

1. level; even; flat

   平放  ―  píng fàng  ―  to put horizontally

   平原  ―  píngyuán  ―  plain

   馬路很平。／马路很平。  ―  Mǎlù hěn píng.  ―  The road is very flat.

2. equal; fair

   平分  ―  píngfēn  ―  to divide evenly

   持平  ―  chípíng  ―  impartial

   Synonym: 均 (jūn)

3. equal

   平輩／平辈  ―  píngbèi  ―  same generation

   平起平坐  ―  píngqǐpíngzuò  ―  to be on an equal footing

   平了世界紀錄／平了世界纪录  ―  píng le shìjiè jìlù  ―  equalled a world record

   雙方打成五平。／双方打成五平。  ―  Shuāngfāng dǎ chéng wǔ píng.  ―  They reached 5-5.

4. to level; to make level
5. calm; peaceful

   Synonyms: 穩 / 稳 (wěn), 靜 / 静 (jìng)

   太平  ―  tàipíng  ―  peaceful and tranquil

   風平浪靜／风平浪静  ―  fēngpínglàngjìng  ―  to have no waves

   心平氣和／心平气和  ―  xīnpíngqìhé  ―  even-tempered and good-humoured

   • 國治而後天下平。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     国治而后天下平。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE

     Guó zhì érhòu tiānxià píng.

     Their states being rightly governed, the whole kingdom was made tranquil and happy.

6. to calm down; to make peaceful; to quiet down

   平民憤／平民愤  ―  píng mínfèn  ―  to assuage popular indignation

   你先平平氣！／你先平平气！  ―  Nǐ xiān píng píng qì!  ―  Just calm down a bit first!

7. to pacify

   平叛  ―  píngpàn  ―  to suppress a rebellion

   • 喪亂既平，既安且寧。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     丧乱既平，既安且宁。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on Bernhard Karlgren's version

     Sāngluàn jì píng, jì ān qiě níng.

     When death and disorder has been settled, there is calm and peace.

8. ordinary; common; mediocre; average

   Synonyms: 常 (cháng), 庸

   Antonyms: 奇, 特 (tè)

   平日  ―  píngrì  ―  normal days

   平凡  ―  píngfán  ―  ordinary

   平民  ―  píngmín  ―  civilian

9. (Chinese phonetics) level tone (one of the four tones in Middle Chinese)

   平上去入  ―  píngshǎngqùrù  ―  the four tones of Middle Chinese: level, rising, departing and checked

   陽平／阳平  ―  yángpíng  ―  light level tone

10. (Cantonese, Hakka, Northern Min) cheap; inexpensive

    Antonym: 貴 / 贵

    平機票／平机票 [Cantonese]  ―  peng⁴ gei¹ piu³   ―  cheap air tickets

    平啲得唔得呀？ [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

    peng⁴ di¹ dak¹ m⁴ dak¹ aa³?

    Can it be cheaper?

    不如平平地賣畀我啦。 [Cantonese, trad.]
    不如平平地卖畀我啦。 [Cantonese, simp.]

    bat¹ jyu⁴ peng⁴ peng^4-2 dei^6-2 maai⁶ bei² ngo⁵ laa¹.

    What about selling it to me at a lower price?

    • (Can we date this quote?), “海南鷄飯”, 张少林 [Chong Sau Lin] (lyrics), 伍佰 [Wu Bai] (music)‎performed by 张少林 [Chong Sau Lin]:

      价钱係普普通通讲来好平 [Malaysian Huiyang Hakka, simp.]
      價錢係普普通通講來好平 [Malaysian Huiyang Hakka, trad.]

      The price is average, quite cheap

11. (Southern Min, Hakka) the same

    伊佮我平懸。 [Teochew, trad.]
    伊佮我平悬。 [Teochew, simp.]

    i¹ gah⁴ ua² bên⁵ guin⁵. [Peng'im]

    He is as tall as me.

12. (historical) Short for 北平 (Běipíng).

    平津戰役／平津战役  ―  Píng Jīn zhànyì  ―  Pingjin campaign

13. Short for 平方米 (píngfāngmǐ, “square metre”). Used with numbers without classifiers.
14. A surname, number 95 of the Baijiaxing

Others:

• → Iu Mien: baengh (“level”)
• → Proto-Palaungic: *-pre/iŋ (“equal, level”) (Sidwell, 2015)
• → Proto-Tai: *biangᴬ (“flat, even”)
  • Lao: ພຽງ (phīang, “flat, even, equal”)
  • Lü: ᦵᦗᧂ (peng, “flat, even, equal”)
  • Northern Thai: ᨻ᩠ᨿᨦ (“flat, even, equal”)
  • Shan: ပဵင်း (páeng, “flat, even, equal”)
  • Thai: เพียง (piiang, “equal, as, only, just”)

平

1. Alternative form of 辨

平

1. (obsolete) to control prices

平

1. (Hokkien) to win back (what was lost)
2. (Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Taiwanese Hokkien) to rectify by making it flat (of land, etc.)

• “平”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A01192

Shinjitai	平
Kyūjitai [1][2]	平󠄁 平+󠄁? (Adobe-Japan1)
	平󠄃 平+󠄃? (Hanyo-Denshi) (Moji_Joho)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. See here for details.

(Third grade kyōiku kanji)

From Middle Chinese 平 (MC bjaeng):

• Go-on: びょう (byō, Jōyō)^{←びやう (byau, historical)}
• Kan-on: へい (hei, Jōyō)
• Tō-on: ひん (hin)
• Kan’yō-on: ひょう (hyō)^{←ひやう (fyau, historical)}

From Middle Chinese 平 (MC bjien), as an alternative form for 弁:

• Go-on: べん (ben)
• Kan-on: へん (hen)

From native Japanese roots:

• Kun: たいら (taira, 平ら, Jōyō)^{←たひら (tafira, 平ら, historical)}、たいら (taira, 平)、たいらか (tairaka, 平らか)、たいらぐ (tairagu, 平らぐ)、たいらげる (tairageru, 平らげる)、ひら (hira, 平, Jōyō)、ひらに (hirani, 平に)
• Nanori: おさむ (osamu)、さね (sane)、たいら (taira)、たか (taka)、つね (tsune)、とし (toshi)、なり (nari)、なる (naru)、はかる (hakaru)、ひとし (hitoshi)、まさる (masaru)、もち (mochi)、よし (yoshi)

• 平(ピン)和(フ) (pinfu)
• 難(なん)平(ぴん) (nanpin)
• 半平(はんぺん) (hanpen)

⟨pi₁ra⟩ → /pʲira/ → /ɸira/ → /hira/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *pira.

• (Tokyo) ひら (Atamadaka – )^[3]
• IPA^(key):

平(ひら) • (hira) 

1. something flat; flattened
2. something ordinary, common, mediocre
3. a person of low-ranking status
   1. a freshman
   2. a novice
   3. a private
4. the top ridge of a roof parallel to the side of a building (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)
5. Short for 平織 (hiraori, “plain weave”).
6. in bookbinding, the flat part of a cover (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)
7. Short for 平椀 (hirawan).

平(ひら) • (hira-) 

1. single-minded (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)

   connects to a noun

平(ひら) • (Hira) 

1. a female given name
2. a surname

⟨tapi₁ra⟩ → /tapʲira/ → /taɸira/ → /tawira/ → /taira/

Nominalization of adjective 平ら (taira, “flat, level”).