偏 (piān) - Partial, inclined, biased & leaning to one side

偏Tone 1

piān ｜ 11 strokes ｜ radical:

柠七

偏 · piān

Partial, inclined, biased;

leaning to one side;

remote, far from the center;

auxiliary, secondary.

Partial, inclined, biasedleaning to one sideremote, far from the center

Usage highlights

PrejudiceRemote areaPartialityDeviationEccentricSupplementary subject

Synonyms

  • 斜— slanting, oblique
  • 侧— side, inclined

Antonyms

  • 正— upright, correct, central
  • 中— center, middle
  • 公— impartial, fair

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • He has a partial view (偏见).
  • The village is located in a remote area (偏远地区).
  • This is a supplementary textbook (偏科 textbook).
  • The weather is unusually cold this year (偏冷).

Collocations

  • Prejudice(偏见)
  • Remote area(偏远地区)
  • Partiality(偏袒)
  • Deviation(偏差)
  • Eccentric(偏执)
  • Supplementary subject(偏科)

Idioms

  • Unable to have it both ways(不可偏废)
  • To favor one and be prejudiced against the other(厚此薄彼 / 偏此薄彼)
  • To rectify a deviation(矫枉过正, related concept)
  • To go to extremes(偏听偏信)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • In Confucian thought, 'the Doctrine of the Mean' (中庸) emphasizes balance and avoiding extremes, making '偏' (deviation) a state to be corrected.
  • The character structure with 人 (person) and 扁 (flat, side) visually suggests a person leaning to one side.
  • Used historically to describe regions far from the central plains, the heart of ancient Chinese civilization.

FAQ