TongTong
Sign in

帮派 (bāng pài) — gang (criminal group); faction (within an organization)

Definition

Means a 'gang' or 'faction' — a group of people bound by shared interest, often with a negative or rivalrous edge. Used broadly for both criminal gangs (帮派之争) and in-house factions (公司帮派).

noun
gang (criminal group)faction (within an organization)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 帮派。
    Zhè ge chéng shì yǒu jǐ gè hēi shè huì bāng pài zài zhēng duó dì pán.
    This city has several mafia gangs fighting over territory.
  • 帮派，。
    Gōng sī nèi bù chū xiàn le bù tóng de bāng pài, hù xiāng jìng zhēng.
    Different factions have appeared inside the company, competing with each other.
  • 帮派，。
    Tā jiā rù le nà ge bāng pài, cóng cǐ bú zài gū dān.
    He joined that gang/faction and was no longer lonely from then on.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

帮bānggroup
派pàifaction

帮 and 派 both refer to groups or factions, so 帮派 denotes a faction or gang.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 幫; 帮 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
帛帛bósilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
封
封fēng幫bāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 帮's traditional form 幫, 帛 (silk) gives the meaning and 封 gives the sound; it originally named the upper part of a shoe.

Open 帮 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater; river
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠂢
𠂢𠂢派pài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

派 is built from 水 (water/river) and 𠂢. 𠂢 gives the sound, and 水 was added later to tell the character apart from the older form.

Open 派 →
Appears in
Groups & OrganizationsCrime & Police5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.