扁 biǎn flat
flat; to beat up
How it came to be
A single door leaf with bound writing slips hanging under it: the board fixed over a doorway with the name written across it. A signboard is thin and wide.
How it is used
- Flat/flattened: 压扁 (yābiǎn) to squash flat, 扁平 (biǎnpíng) flat, 扁豆 (biǎndòu) flat beans.
- 扁担 (biǎndan) = a carrying pole. Read piān in 扁舟 (piānzhōu, a small boat).
- Colloquial 扁人 (biǎn rén) = to beat someone up (mainly Taiwan/southern).