不
bù · HSK 1
no
🚫 不 = universal Chinese negator; one bird flying down from a sky line
不 (bù) negates verbs and adjectives: 不是 not be, 不好 not good. Tone shifts to bú before another 4th tone (不要 → bú yào). Oracle-bone origin: a bird turning back from the sky, hence refusal.
不 — single pictograph; bird flying upward
Originally a pictograph in oracle bone script, traditionally interpreted as a bird flying up toward the sky and unable to come down, suggesting negation or refusal. Over time it became the standard negation word in Chinese, used before verbs and adjectives to mean 'not'.