逼

The Chinese character 逼 (bī) is composed of two parts: the radical 歹 (dǎi), which means "bad" or "evil", and the phonetic component 必 (bì), which means "must" or "certainly". The combination of these two components suggests the idea of something that is pressing or urgent, and indeed, the character 逼 can be used to mean "to press", "to force", or "to compel". It can also be used in a more figurative sense to mean "to threaten" or "to intimidate".The character 逼 has a long history, dating back to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BC). It was originally written as 廹, which was a pictograph of a hand holding a stick. This character was later simplified to 逼, which is the form that is used today.The character 逼 is used in a variety of Chinese words and phrases. Some common examples include:* 逼迫 (bīpò): to oppress, to persecute* 逼近 (bījìn): to approach, to draw near* 逼供 (bīgòng): to extract a confession by force* 逼婚 (bīhūn): to force someone to get married* 逼上梁山 (bīshàngliángshān): to be driven to desperate measuresThe character 逼 is a versatile character that can be used to express a variety of meanings. It is an important character to know for HSK learners, as it is used in many common words and phrases.