‘彼人’ (bǐ rén) is a classical or literary term meaning ‘that person’, used to refer to a specific individual who is distant from the speaker in space, time, or social relationship. The character 彼 (bǐ) means ‘that’—a demonstrative pronoun indicating something remote—and 人 (rén) means ‘person’. Together, they form a compact, formal noun phrase that carries a tone of detachment, reverence, or poetic distance. It appears frequently in classical texts, historical narratives, and formal writing, but is rarely used in everyday spoken Chinese.

This term often conveys subtle nuance: it may suggest objectivity, mild criticism, admiration, or narrative framing—especially when contrasting ‘this person’ (此人, cǐ rén) with ‘that person’ (彼人). Unlike modern colloquial alternatives like 那个人 (nà gè rén), 彼人 is concise, elegant, and stylistically marked as elevated or archaic. Learners should recognize it in reading but avoid using it conversationally unless aiming for deliberate literary effect.