班

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

班 (Kangxi radical 96, 玉+6, 10 strokes, cangjie input 一土戈中土 (MGILG), four-corner 1111₄, composition ⿲𤣩刂王 or ⿴玨刂)

Derived characters

• 㿀 𠺚 𢲔 𣗝 𨫄 𩺡 𩔮 𪄕(𪉒) 𦶾 𠞢 𪱟 𬂇 𭨞 𮚽

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 731, character 19
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 20976
• Dae Jaweon: page 1142, character 29
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1113, character 3
• Unihan data for U+73ED

Chinese

Glyph origin

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

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 玨 (“two jade”) + 刀 (“knife”) – to cut jade to pieces with knife.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(b/p)ral (“to leave, depart, separate”) (STEDT). Cognate with Tibetan བྲལ་བ (bral ba, “to be separated”), འཕྲལ་བ ('phral ba, “to cause to be separated, to separate”), Miju phɑ̆l⁵³ (“to pull (weeds)”), phɹɯl⁵⁵ lɑ³⁵ (“to collapse”), Thulung phal si- (“to collapse”), Burmese ပြား (pra:, “various”), Jingpho pə³¹-ran³¹.

Karlgren (1933) grouped 班 (OC *praːn), 半 (OC *paːns), and 釆 (OC *brens) into one word family.

Schuessler (2007) also pointed to Austroasiatic comparanda semantically closer to Chinese; such as Khmer រាល (riəl, “to spread, extend, distribute”) and Khmer ព្រាល (priəl, “to spread”) with causative prefix *p-.

Possibly the same etymon as 斑 (OC *praːn, “variegated, spotted, striped”), which may be cognate to 羆 (OC *pral, “brown bear”) (Zhang, 2019).

Pronunciation

Definitions

班

1. group; party; class

   培訓班／培训班  ―  péixùnbān  ―  training course

   你邊班㗎？／你边班㗎？ [Cantonese]  ―  nei⁵ bin¹ baan¹ gaa³?   ―  Which class are you in?

   我們班有三十個同學。 [MSC, trad.]
   我们班有三十个同学。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒmen bān yǒu sānshí ge tóngxué.

   There are thirty students in our class.

2. (military) squad
3. shift; work shift

   上班  ―  shàngbān  ―  to go to work

   晚班  ―  wǎnbān  ―  night shift

4. (dated) opera troupe

   徽班  ―  Huī bān  ―  Anhui troupe

   班本  ―  bānběn  ―  opera script

5. (literary) to divide; to distribute

   • 既葬，子碩欲以賻布之餘具祭器。子柳曰：「不可，吾聞之也：君子不家於喪。請班諸兄弟之貧者。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     既葬，子硕欲以赙布之余具祭器。子柳曰：「不可，吾闻之也：君子不家于丧。请班诸兄弟之贫者。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Jì zàng, Zǐshuò yù yǐ fùbù zhī yú jù jìqì. Zǐliǔ yuē: “Bùkě, wú wén zhī yě: jūnzǐ bù jiā yú sàng. Qǐng bān zhū xiōngdì zhī pín zhě.”

     After the burial, Zi-shi wished to take what remained of the money and other things contributed towards their expenses, to provide sacrificial vessels; but Zi-liu said, 'Neither can that be done. I have heard that a superior man will not enrich his family by means of his mourning. Let us distribute it among the poor of our brethren.'

   • 晉侯執曹伯，班其所取侵地于諸侯也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     晋侯执曹伯，班其所取侵地于诸侯也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Gongyang, c. 206 BCE– 9 CE

     Jìn hóu zhí Cáo bó, bān qí suǒ qǔ qīn dì yú zhūhóu yě.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

6. (literary) to spread out

   • 伍舉奔鄭，將遂奔晉，聲子將如晉，遇之於鄭郊，班荊相與食，而言復故。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     伍举奔郑，将遂奔晋，声子将如晋，遇之于郑郊，班荆相与食，而言复故。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Wǔ Jǔ bēn Zhèng, jiāng suì bēn Jìn, Shēngzǐ jiāng rú Jìn, yù zhī yú Zhèng jiāo, bān jīng xiāngyǔ shí, ér yán fù gù.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

7. (literary) to rank; to arrange

   • 周室班爵祿也，如之何？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     周室班爵禄也，如之何？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Zhōu shì bān juélù yě, rúzhīhé?

     What was the arrangement of dignities and emoluments determined by the House of Zhou?

8. (literary) rank; grade

   • 然後百辟乃入，司儀辨等，尊卑以班。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     然后百辟乃入，司仪辨等，尊卑以班。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 1st–2nd century, Zhang Heng, 東京賦

     Ránhòu bǎibì nǎi rù, sīyí biàn děng, zūnbēi yǐ bān.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

9. (literary) equal; in the same rank

   • 伯夷、伊尹於孔子，若是班乎？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     伯夷、伊尹于孔子，若是班乎？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Bóyí, Yīyǐn yú Kǒngzǐ, ruòshì bān hū?

     Comparing Bo Yi and Yi Yin with Confucius, are they to be placed in the same rank?

10. (alt. form 頒／颁) (literary) to promulgate; to issue

    • 是月也，天子乃教於田獵，以習五戎，班馬政。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
      是月也，天子乃教于田猎，以习五戎，班马政。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

      Shì yuè yě, tiānzǐ nǎi jiào yú tiánliè, yǐ xí wǔróng, bān mǎzhèng.

      In this month the son of Heaven, by means of hunting, teaches how to use the five weapons of war, and the rules for the management of horses.

11. Classifier for a group of people.

    有班中學生喺球場度打緊波。 [Cantonese, trad.]
    有班中学生喺球场度打紧波。 [Cantonese, simp.]

    jau⁵ baan¹ zung¹ hok⁶ saang¹ hai² kau⁴ coeng⁴ dou⁶ daa² gan² bo¹.

    A group of secondary school students are playing ball games in the playground.

    • 可是一班別有心腸的人們，便竭力來阻遏它，要使孩子的世界中，沒有一絲樂趣。 [MSC, trad.]
      可是一班别有心肠的人们，便竭力来阻遏它，要使孩子的世界中，没有一丝乐趣。 [MSC, simp.]

      From: 1928, Lu Xun, 二十四孝圖

      Kěshì yī bān bié yǒu xīncháng de rénmen, biàn jiélì lái zǔ'è tā, yào shǐ háizǐ de shìjiè zhōng, méiyǒu yī sī lèqù.

      (please add an English translation of this usage example)

    • 1997, “遊戲”, in 黃貫中 (lyrics), 請將手放開, performed by BEYOND [Beyond]:

      跟班friend hea到天光 [Literary Cantonese]  ―  gan¹ baan¹ fen¹ he³ dou³ tin¹ gwong¹   ―  hanging with friends until dawn

12. Classifier for scheduled forms of transportation, such as flights and trains.

    下一班車什麼時候到？ [MSC, trad.]
    下一班车什么时候到？ [MSC, simp.]

    Xià yī bān chē shénme shíhou dào?

    What time is the next bus?

13. (in compounds, of transport) regular; scheduled

    班船  ―  bānchuán  ―  scheduled ferry

14. (Cantonese) Classifier for classes.

    我哋一級有五班。 [Cantonese, trad.]
    我哋一级有五班。 [Cantonese, simp.]

    ngo⁵ dei⁶ jat¹ kap¹ jau⁵ ng⁵ baan¹.

    We have five classes in each year.

15. (Cantonese, figurative) league; rank; level; ability; competence

    夠班／够班 [Cantonese]  ―  gau³ baan¹   ―  to be qualified (literally, “to have enough competence”)

    高班 [Cantonese]  ―  gou¹ baan¹   ―  of high competence

    佢嘅能力同其他人比仲係爭幾班。 [Cantonese, trad.]
    佢嘅能力同其他人比仲系争几班。 [Cantonese, simp.]

    keoi⁵ ge³ nang⁴ lik⁶ tung⁴ kei⁴ taa¹ jan⁴ bei² zung⁶ hai⁶ zaang¹ gei² baan¹.

    His ability is still several leagues behind others.

16. (Cantonese) to gather; to assemble
17. (literary) to withdraw

    班師／班师  ―  bānshī  ―  to withdraw troops

18. Alternative form of 斑 (bān, “spotted; striped”)
19. a surname

    班固  ―  Bān Gù  ―  Ban Gu (historian)

Usage notes

• (military): Under the National Revolutionary Army, a platoon (排) was composed of three squads. With the infantry, the infantry squad would be composed of 14 soldiers, of 10 riflemen, and one light machine gun unit.

Compounds

Descendants

References

• “班”, 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–

Japanese

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

Kanji

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. group, party, section

Readings

• Go-on: へん (hen)
• Kan-on: はん (han, Jōyō)
• Kun: かえす (kaesu, 班す); しく (shiku, 班く); わかつ (wakatsu, 班つ); わける (wakeru, 班ける)
• Nanori: つら (tsura); なか (naka); ひとし (hitoshi)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) は​ん (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Suffix

班(はん) • (-han) 

1. group, party
2. (military) section

References

Korean

Hanja

班 (eumhun 나눌 반 (nanul ban))

1. Hanja form^? of 반 (“group; class”).

Vietnamese

Han character

班: Hán Nôm readings: ban, băn

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.