to burn (a letter); commit to the flames
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesverb
to burn (a letter or document); to destroy by fire
archaicA literary term derived from the phrase "付之丙丁" (commit to the Bing and Ding), where 丙 and 丁 (the third and fourth of the Ten Heavenly Stems) represent the element of fire in traditional Chinese numerology. Used primarily in written correspondence to instruct the recipient to burn the letter after reading.
Cǐ此
hán函
yuè阅
hòu后
fù付
bǐng丙
，
qiē切
wù勿
liú留
cún存
。
Please burn this letter after reading; do not keep it.
Tā他
jiāng将
mì密
xìn信
fù付
bǐng丙
，
yǐ以
fáng防
jī机
mì密
wài外
xiè泄
。
He burned the confidential letter to prevent any leakage of secrets.
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Jiù旧
shí时
qíng情
bào报
rén人
yuán员
cháng常
yòng用
"
fù付
bǐng丙
"
èr二
zì字
shì示
yì意
xiāo销
huǐ毁
xìn信
jiàn件
。
In the past, intelligence personnel often used the term 'fù bǐng' to signal the destruction of correspondence.