Types of Chinese Characters Pictographs are characters which represent concrete things with an (slightly abstract) image 龟 雨

Types of Chinese Characters Ideographs are graphical representations for abstract ideas

Types of Chinese Characters Compound Pictographs and Compound Ideographs are combinations of pictographs and ideographs. Each element contributes to the whole idea of the single character. 雷

Types of Chinese Characters Semantic-phonetic compounds 中 zhōng （center) 仲 zhòng （a last name) 诂 谝 谤 钴 镑 钟 zhōng （clock)

Chinese Character Shapes The most basic form of a Chinese character is a box which is slightly taller than it is wide.

Chinese Character Shapes Here are some examples of simple boxy Chinese characters. 平 我 木 人 píng wǒ mù rén

Chinese Character Shapes Another common form are symmetrical characters

Chinese Character Shapes Here are some symmetrical characters you have already seen. Notice that they needn’t be perfectly symmetrical. 吗 林 好 陆 ma lù lín hǎo

Chinese Character Shapes Symmetrical character shapes can also be top over bottom, or layered 娜 宋 男 谁 nà shéi sòng nán

Chinese Character Shapes There are also boxy characters which are non-symmetrical. They do follow certain forms, however. 嘉 绍 都 华 shào jiā dōu huá

Chinese Character Shapes Some characters have triangular elements to them which cover or support other parts of the character 有 友 近 健 yǒu yóu jìn jiàn

Chinese Character Shapes These characters have outside-inside structure. 向 闪 月 同 Characters with similar structures have strange stroke orders.

Chinese Character Shapes These characters have surround from the upper-left structure 厘 危 友 发 Characters like these are written outside first

Chinese Character Shapes These characters have surround from the upper-right structure. 乌 可 包 乃 Characters like these are written outside first

Chinese Character Shapes These characters have the surround from above structure. 冈 闭 凤 问 Characters like these are written outside first

Chinese Character Shapes These characters have surround from below or surround from lower left structure 凶 达 运 建 These two groups of characters are written inside first.

Chinese Character Strokes There are 31 modern Chinese pen strokes that are used to write all characters. as in the character yī (one) héng horizontal stroke (written from left to right) shù vertical stroke (written from top to bottom) shí (ten)

Chinese Strokes down stroke to the left (written from top right to bottom left) bā (eight) pié nà down stroke to the right (written from top left to bottom right) rù (to enter)

Chinese Strokes liù (six) diǎn dot (written from top to bottom right or left) bǎ (to grasp) tí upward stroke (written from bottom left to top right

Chinese Strokes hénggōu zì (character) horizontal stroke with a hook shùgōu vertical stroke with a hook up to the left xiǎo (small)

Chinese Strokes shùtí cháng (length) lǚ (travel) vertical stroke with a hook up to the right wāngōu gǒu (dog) bending stroke with a hook

Chinese Strokes wǒ (I, me) xiégou1 slant stroke with a hook wàng (to forget) wògōu level bending stroke with a hook

Chinese Strokes heng2zhe2 kǒu (mouth) horizontal stroke with a vertical turn shu4zhe2 yī (doctor, medicine) vertical stroke with a horizontal turn to the right

给 么 Chinese Strokes me (grammatical particle) down stroke to the left combined with a long horizontal stroke piězhé gěi (to give) 给 么 piědiǎn nǚ (female) down stroke to the left combined with a dot

多 礼 水 冬 Chinese Strokes duō (many) lǐ (present) héngpiě shuǐ (water) dōng (winter) 水 冬 horizontal stroke which turns into a diagonal shùwāngōu vertical stroke combined with a level bending stroke with a hook yě (also)

月 力 门 没 船 Chinese Strokes yuè (moon) héngzhégōu horizontal downward-turning stroke with a hook lì (power) mén (door) 力 门 héngzhéwān horizontal downward-turning stroke with a tail chuán (boat) méi (negative, not, non-) 没 船

飞 风 Chinese Strokes héngzhétí left-to-right up-then-down zig-zag only used in words radical tǎo (to demand) lùn (to discuss) héngxiégōu horizontal finishing in slant stroke with a hook fēi (to fly) fēng (wind) 飞 风

Chinese Strokes up-then-down left-to-right zig-zag only used in characters which include zhuān shùzhépié zhuān (particular, expert) héngpiéwāngōu up-then-down sweeping curve only used in characters which include yǐ yǐ yì (art) yì (remember)

Chinese Strokes shùzhézhégōu mǎ (horse) vertical stroke with a double turn and a hook héngzhézhépié horizontal stroke with a triple turn and a leftward stroke jí (and) jiàn (build)

Chinese Strokes duì (team) hengzhézhézhégōu nǎi (used in conjunctions) thus, so, therefore, then, thereupon

1. From top to bottom (从上到下) Chinese Stroke Order 1. From top to bottom (从上到下) 二 全 古 早

2. From left to right (从左到右) Chinese Stroke Order 2. From left to right (从左到右) 一 叶 你 好

3. Horizontal before vertical (先横后竖) Chinese Stroke Order 3. Horizontal before vertical (先横后竖) 十 干 王 七

4. Diagonals right-to-left before diagonals left-to-right ( 先撇后捺) Chinese Stroke Order 4. Diagonals right-to-left before diagonals left-to-right ( 先撇后捺) 人 八 又 大

5. Outside before inside (从外到内) Chinese Stroke Order 5. Outside before inside (从外到内) 向 厘 可 凤

Chinese Character Shapes These characters have outside-inside structure. 向 闪 月 同 5. Outside before inside (从外到内)

Chinese Character Shapes These characters have surround from the upper-left structure 厘 危 友 发 Characters like these are written outside first

Chinese Character Shapes These characters have surround from the upper-right structure. 乌 可 包 乃 Characters like these are written outside first

Chinese Character Shapes These characters have the surround from above structure. 冈 闭 凤 问 Characters like these are written outside first

Chinese Character Shapes These characters have surround from below or surround from lower left structure 凶 达 运 建 6. Inside before outside (从内到外) for both groups of chars.

7. Inside before bottom enclosing (先里头后封口) Chinese Stroke Order 7. Inside before bottom enclosing (先里头后封口) 因 田 国 日 四 回

8. Center verticals before outside "wings"( 先中间后两边) Chinese Stroke Order 8. Center verticals before outside "wings"( 先中间后两边) 小 水 永 来

9. Cutting strokes last ( 相交笔画后写) Chinese Stroke Order 9. Cutting strokes last ( 相交笔画后写) 中 干 羊

10. Left vertical before enclosing ( 先左竖后封口) Chinese Stroke Order 10. Left vertical before enclosing ( 先左竖后封口) 日 口 田 国

11. Top or upper-left dots first ( 点在上边或左上先写) Chinese Stroke Order 11. Top or upper-left dots first ( 点在上边或左上先写) 衣 为 永 闪

12. Inside or upper-right dots last ( 点在右上或里边后写) Chinese Stroke Order 12. Inside or upper-right dots last ( 点在右上或里边后写) 我 为 瓦 玉