Bing (rank)

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Bing (Chinese: 兵; Korean: 병; Hanja: 兵) is the rank usually held by enlisted personnel in some East Asian militaries. The ranks are used in both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan, and both North and South Korea. The rank name is based on one of the four ancient occupations.

The Sino-Korean word component "byeong" means "soldier" literally, used in a wide variety of words related with soldiers, like in busang-byeong (Korean: 부상병; Hanja: 負傷兵, lit. 'a wounded soldier'), but rarely (usually in technical context in armed forces) per se.^{[citation needed]}

Byeongjangs, who work closely with their US military counterparts, are frequently addressed as "sergeant" or the equivalent E-5 term in English by the U.S. military.^{[citation needed]} This varies however by unit. In a similar vein, some US E-5s are called hasa by the ROKA members, as their status is one of an NCO.^{[citation needed]}

The various ranks of byeong are denoted by stripes worn laterally on a service member's left sleeve. An even lower rank, that of mudeungbyeong (Korean: 무등병; Hanja: 無等兵, lit. 'soldier with no rank'), also known as hullyeonbyeong (Korean: 훈련병; Hanja: 訓鍊兵, lit. 'trainee soldier'), is usually believed to be held by enlisted recruits in basic training, and those recruits are not allowed to have any insignia on their uniform until they finish the training course, but they are actually regarded to be ideungbyeong (the lowest byeong rank) officially.^{[citation needed]}

In most comparative military scales, a Byeongjang is considered the equivalent of a non-commissioned officer equal to a sergeant. The South Korean military, however, does not generally grant NCO powers to a service member until obtaining the rank of hasa. Still, Byeongjang in South Korea is exceptionally considered as an NCO when holding the squad leader position.^{[citation needed]}

The word byeong (soldier) has a natural context that personnel in those ranks are not in commanding responsibilities, thus not NCOs at all. They are strictly distinguished from the ranks above in many respects. Personnel with ranks of hasa or above are called ganbu (Korean: 간부; Hanja: 幹部, lit. 'the executive members'), as an antonym of byeong. South Korea's South Korean military are retained by the conscription system. If a person is enlisted to an armed force and has not applied for NCO or officer, then his highest rank until he finishes the mandatory service term (21 months in case of the ROK Army, as of 2012) is to be the highest rank of byeong (i.e. Byeongjang).^{[citation needed]}

The same rank names are used for all services, prefixed by haijun (simplified Chinese: 海军; traditional Chinese: 海軍; lit. 'naval force') or kongjun (simplified Chinese: 空军; traditional Chinese: 空軍; lit. 'air force').

Rank group	Enlisted
	上等兵 Shàngděngbīng	列兵 Lièbīng
PLA Ground Force[1]
PLA Navy[1]
PLA Air Force[1]
	上等兵 Shàngděngbīng	列兵 Lièbīng
Rank group	Enlisted

Rank group	Enlisted
Rank	上等兵	一等兵	二等兵
Mandarin	Shàngděngbīng	Yīděngbīng	Èrděngbīng
Taiwanese	Siōng-téng Peng	It-téng Peng	Jī-téng Peng
Literal translation	Upper class soldier	First class soldier	Second class soldier
Republic of China Army[2]
Republic of China Navy[2]
Republic of China Air Force[2]
Republic of China Marine Corps[2]
Republic of China Military Police[2]
	上等兵 Shàngděngbīng	一等兵 Yīděngbīng	二等兵 Èrděngbīng
Rank group	Enlisted

Rank group	Enlisted
Hangul	병장	상등병	일등병	이등병
Hanja	兵長	上等兵	一等兵	二等兵
Romanization	Byeongjang	Sangdeungbyeong	Ildeungbyeong	Ideungbyeong
Literal translation	Soldier chief	Superior soldier	First class soldier	Second class soldier
Republic of Korea Army[3]
Official translation[4]	Sergeant	Corporal	Private first class	Private
Republic of Korea Navy[3]
Official translation[5]	Petty officer second class	Petty officer third class	Seaman	Seaman apprentice
Republic of Korea Air Force[3]
Republic of Korea Marine Corps[3]
	병장 兵長 Byeongjang	상등병 上等兵 Sangdeungbyeong	일등병 一等兵 Ildeungbyeong	이등병 二等兵 Ideungbyeong
Rank group	Enlisted

Rank group	Enlisted
Vietnamese	Binh nhất	Binh nhì
Chữ Hán	兵一	兵二
Literal translation	First soldier	Second soldier
Vietnam People's Ground Force[6]
Vietnam People's Navy[6]
Vietnam People's Air Force[6]
Vietnamese	Binh nhất	Binh nhì
Rank group	Enlisted

Rank group	Enlisted
Native name	Binh nhất	Binh nhì
Chữ Hán	兵一	兵二
Literal translation	First soldier	Second soldier
Army of the Republic of Vietnam (1967-1975)[7]		No insignia
Translation[7]	Private first class	Private
Republic of Vietnam Navy (1967-1975)[7]		No insignia
Translation[7]	Seaman	Recruit
Republic of Vietnam Marine Division (1967-1975)		No insignia
Translation	Private first class	Private
Republic of Vietnam Air Force (1967-1975)[7]
Translation[7]	Airman first class	Airman
Native name	Binh nhất	Binh nhì
Rank group	Enlisted

• Shi (rank)
• Comparative military ranks of Korea