不 bù no; not; not
Made up of [一 yī one radical 1]Used as component 不 in :还 hái ; 杯 bēi
Similar looking characters : 下 xià (down)
Made with 4 strokes.
One possible derivation is of a bird flying directly upwards to the sky which is impossible or else a plant growing downwards
Ancient small seal form 
Related characters
Also uses 一 yī component: 百 bǎi (hundred) 丙 bǐng (third in order) ; 丑 chǒu (shameful) ; 旦 dàn (dawn) ; 德 dé (virtue) ; 画 huà (to draw) ; 或 huò (maybe) ; 疆 jiāng (border) ; 开 kāi (begin) ; 丽 lì (beautiful) ; 两 liǎng (pair) ; 蒙 měng (Mongol) ; 灭 miè (to extinguish) ; 且 qiě (and) ; 世 shì (life) ; 与 yǔ (to give) ; 再 zài (again) ; 正 zhèng (correct)
Sounds same
步 bù (a step)Different tone
卜 bǔ (divination)Pronunciation
Sound file kindly provided by shtooka.net ➚ under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License
Stroke order for character 不, kindly provided under Wikimedia creative commons license ➚
Proverbs
爱不释手 ài bù shì shǒu Locked in love's clutches百闻不如一见 bǎi wén bù rú yí jiàn Delighted to meet you in person at last. Seeing at first hand gives valuable information. The story is of a Han dynasty veteran general Zhao Chongguo who went to see the situation for himself at the frontier rather than relying on secondhand reports. His wise analysis quickly solved the problem with the incursions of northern tribes
百折不挠 bǎi zhé bù náo Persistence pays off in the end
兵不厌诈 bīng bù yàn zhà In warfare nothing is too dishonest
不耻下问 bù chǐ xià wèn There is no shame in asking help from those less fortunate or senior than yourself.
不到黄河不死心 bù dào Huáng hé bù sǐ xīn Keep going until you hit an insurmountable obstacle
Phrases
他 们 不 是 法 国 人 tā mén bù shì fǎ guó rén They are not French不 谢 bù xiè You're welcome