Seashells were used as currency in ancient China, so the Chinese character for seashell also means currency.
The character 貝 (traditional) 贝 (simplified) (pronounced bèi) is a pictogram of a cowrie shell. The two strokes at the bottom of the character represent the feelers of the live cowrie.
This character is also a radical, and is used many characters related to money, such as:
- 賤 / 贱 – jiàn - worthless
- 賣 / 卖 – mài – sell
- 買 / 买 – mǎi – buy
- 財 / 财 – cái – wealth
- 貧 / 贫 – pín – poor
- 貴 / 贵 – guì – expensive
Mandarin Vocabulary With Bèi
| Traditional Characters | Simplified Characters | Pinyin | English |
| 拷貝 | 拷贝 | kǎo bèi | to copy |
| 諾貝爾和平獎 | 诺贝尔和平奖 | nuò bèi ěr hé píng jiǎng | Nobel Peace Prize |
| 貝丘 | 贝丘 | bèi qiū | shell mound |
| 貝多芬 | 贝多芬 | Bèi duō fēn | Beethoven |
| 貝彫 | 贝雕 | bèi diāo | shell carving |
| 貝類 | 贝类 | bèi lèi | shellfish |
| 寶貝 | 宝贝 | bǎo bèi | treasured object |
