卑 means “lowly, base, mean”

ひ · hi

Also: vile, vulgar

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): いやしい, いやしむ, いやしめる
On'yomi (Chinese reading): ヒ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 9 strokes

The story

Picture a figure with a bowed head (the boxed top) and a body bent low (十): someone making themselves small. 卑 is low and mean: 卑しい is vulgar or greedy, 卑下 is running yourself down, and 卑怯 is cowardly and unfair, as in the cry 卑怯だぞ.

Used in 卑怯 (hikyou, cowardly/unfair), 卑劣 (hiretsu, despicable), and 卑しい (iyashii, base/greedy)

卑 means “lowly, base, mean”

The story

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