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