本 běn root; book
Made up of [木 mù wood; wooden radical 75]This measure word can be used with these nouns: 书 shū (book)
Made with 5 strokes.
A picture of a tree with a line representing the earth and so emphasizing the roots. Measure word for bound objects - particularly books and magazines
Ancient small seal form 
Related characters
Also uses 木 mù component: 板 bǎn (board) 杯 bēi (cup) ; 菜 cài (vegetable) ; 彩 cǎi (color) ; 茶 chá (tea) ; 柴 chái (firewood) ; 床 chuáng (bed) ; 杆 gān (pole) ; 果 guǒ (fruit) ; 机 jī (machine) ; 禁 jìn (to prohibit) ; 禁 jìn (to prohibit) ; 桔 jú (tangerine) ; 棵 kē (of plants) ; 来 lái (arrive) ; 李 lǐ (plum) ; 梨 lí (pear) ; 林 lín (forest) ; 楼 lóu (multi-story building) ; 棋 qí (board game) ; 秦 qín (Qin) ; 亲 qīn (parent) ; 柔 róu (soft) ; 杀 shā (to kill) ; 树 shù (tree) ; 术 shù (method) ; 宋 song (Song) ; 条 tiáo (strip) ; 未 wèi (not yet) ; 闲 xián (to stay idle) ; 相 xiāng (each other) ; 校 xiào (school) ; 椅 yǐ (chair) ; 植 zhí (to plant) ; 枝 zhī (branch) ; 桌 zhuō (table)
Pronunciation
Sound file kindly provided by shtooka.net ➚ under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License
Stroke order for character 本, kindly provided under Wikimedia creative commons license ➚
Cities
本溪 Benxi, LiaoningProverbs
无源之水,无本之木 wú yuán zhī shuǐ, wú běn zhī mù Something without a proper foundation. Not properly planned舍本逐末 shě běn zhú mò Concentrating on the little details rather than the important stuff