包 — to cover; to wrap; to hold
to cover; to wrap; to hold; to include; to take charge of
- Pinyin
- bāo · Bāo
- Strokes
- 5
- HSK level
- HSK 1
- Handwriting
- recognition only
This character has more than one reading — bāo, Bāo — and the pronunciation depends on the word it appears in. The list below gives the syllabus reading for each word.
How to write 包: 5 strokes
Each cell adds one stroke to the previous ones, with the new stroke in red. Stroke order is not decoration: it sets the proportions of the character and makes handwriting legible to a reader. The syllabus asks you to recognise this character rather than write it by hand.
Words with 包 in the HSK syllabus: 19
Every word in the official 2026 syllabus that contains this character, with the level it is introduced at. Learning a character pays off through these: each one combines with the characters you already know.
- 包子bāozibaozi; baoHSK 1
- 面包miànbāobreadHSK 1
- 包bāoto cover; to wrap; to hold; to includeHSK 2
- 书包shūbāoschoolbag; satchel; bookbagHSK 2
- 背包bēibāoknapsack; rucksack; infantry pack; field packHSK 4
- 红包hóngbāomoney wrapped in red as a gift; bonus paymentHSK 4
- 包裹bāoguǒto wrap up; to bind up; bundle; parcel; packageHSK 5
- 包含bāohánto contain; to embody; to includeHSK 5
- 包括bāokuòto comprise; to include; to involve; to incorporateHSK 5
- 包装bāozhuāngto wrap; to package; packaging; packing materialsHSK 5
- 打包dǎbāoto wrap; to packHSK 5
- 包庇bāobìto shield; to harbor; to cover upHSK 7–9
- 包袱bāofuwrapping cloth; a bundle wrapped in cloth; loadHSK 7–9
- 包罗万象bāoluó-wànxiàngall-embracing; all-inclusiveHSK 7–9
- 包容bāoróngto pardon; to forgive; to show tolerance; to containHSK 7–9
- 包围bāowéito surround; to encircle; to hem inHSK 7–9
- 包扎bāozāto wrap up; to pack; to bind upHSK 7–9
- 承包chéngbāoto contract; to undertakeHSK 7–9
- 掏腰包tāo yāobāoto dip into one's pocket; to pay out of pocket; to foot the billHSK 7–9
Glosses come from CC-CEDICT, used under CC BY-SA 4.0, and are the dictionary’s first sense rather than a translation chosen for context.