为 wèi do; act
Made up of [力 lì strength radical 19, 丶 zhǔ dot radical 3]Alternative traditional form of character: 為
Made with 4 strokes.
Old form is of hand combing fibers, the modern form retains a 'hand' element
Ancient small seal form 
Related characters
Also uses 力 lì component: 边 biān (side) 动 dòng (to use) ; 功 gōng (accomplishment) ; 咖 kā (coffee) ; 劳 láo (to toil) ; 历 lì (to experience) ; 另 lìng (other) ; 男 nán (male) ; 穷 qióng (exhausted) ; 苏 sū (revive) ; 务 wù (affair)
Also uses 丶 zhǔ component: 白 bái (bright) 半 bàn (half) ; 冰 bīng (ice) ; 弟 dì (younger brother) ; 兑 duì (to cash) ; 丽 lì (beautiful) ; 良 liáng (good) ; 令 lìng (to order) ; 铺 pù (store) ; 勺 sháo (spoon) ; 术 shù (method) ; 苏 sū (revive) ; 太 tài (too) ; 往 wǎng (towards) ; 乌 wū (crow) ; 义 yì (justice) ; 尤 yóu (outstanding) ; 玉 yù (jade) ; 州 zhōu (prefecture) ; 住 zhù (to live) ; 主 zhǔ (owner) ; 自 zì (from)
Sounds same
未 wèi (not yet) ; 位 wèi (position)Different tone
囗 wéi (proud) ; 维 wéi (to preserve) ; 尾 wěi (tail)Pronunciation
Sound file kindly provided by shtooka.net ➚ under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License
Stroke order for character 为, kindly provided under Wikimedia creative commons license ➚
Proverbs
古为今用 gǔ wéi jīn yòng Learning from history. Applying past history to the current situation见义勇为 jiàn yì yǒng wéi To see what is right and act with courage
宁为玉碎,不为瓦全 nìng wéi yù suì, bù wéi wǎ quán Stand up against enemies do not give in. Keep your integrity and stand firm
巧妇难为无米之炊 qiǎo fù nán wéi wú mǐ zhī chuī You need to assemble the right materials for a job
三十六计,走为上策 sān shí liù jì, zǒu wéi shàng cè Sometimes it is best to avoid conflict altogether. Flight can be the best option. 'The Thirty-Six Stratagems' was written by the great military thinker Sun Zi ➚
生活有爱幸福,为爱生活愚蠢 shēng huó yǒu ài xìngfú, wèi ài shēng huó yú chǔn Love is not the most important thing