1. Introduction - Chinese Writing System
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2. Chinese writing system
Evolution
Civilization
Videos about 甲骨文 and 汉字
Stroke
Basic Strokes
Stroke Orders
Writing System
Six Categories
象形、指事、会意、形声、专注、假借
Radicals
Writing Styles
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3. Chinese vs. English Chinese characters = English alphabets
There are 26 Alphabets in English
There are over 50,000 characters in
Chinese
English alphabets contain no meaning
(except for “I,” “a”)
Each Chinese character has meanings
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4. Written Chinese – Unifies the varied Chinese people and dialects
3,000 of these are frequently used (99.15% frequency rate)
Only 500 – 600 are most frequently used in daily life!
Dialects prevent people from different regions from understanding each other, however, unlike European countries, Chinese dialects are not considered as different languages, because people use the same written language – 汉字
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5. 繁体字 vs. 简体字
There are two types of written Chinese characters in use today: Traditional characters (fán tǐ zì) and Simplified characters (jiǎn tǐ zì). Traditional characters, stemming from the Qin Dynasty ( B.C.) have a history of roughly 2,000 years. Simplified characters evolved later from the People's Republic of China (PRC) government's wish to reduce illiteracy; they simplified the strokes used in Traditional Chinese to achieve this goal. Thus, Simplified characters are derived from the Traditional characters.
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6. 繁体字 vs. 简体字 Example: 車 - 车 (chē), automobile 鐘 - 钟 (zhōng), clock
Discuss: What are the benefits of learning fán tǐ zì and jiǎn tǐ zì? Are you learning fán tǐ zì or jiǎn tǐ zì right now?
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7. Evolution of Chinese Characters
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8. Evolution of Characters 汉字的演变
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9. Video - 甲骨文 video from 孔府学院
Youtube video:
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10. Video – 汉字
Video from 孔府学院
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11. Introduction of Chinese characters
A very nice intro video from
Dikk Kelly
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12. The Basic Strokes of Characters
Some Chinese characters (pictgraphs) evolved from pictures.
Many people describe writing Chinese characters as similar in feeling to drawing.
Question: When we write Chinese characters, are we actually painting?
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13. The Basic Strokes of characters
Of course not!
When we paint a painting, it doesn’t matter whether the lines are straight or curvy, nor does it matter which strokes we paint first and which ones we paint later as the final painting resembles the objects that we seek to depict.
When writing Chinese characters, we must carefully follow the prescribed stroke order.
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《汉字 的智慧》

14. The Basic Strokes of Characters
Question: How should we write Chinese characters?
Answer: As you learn to write Chinese characters, the first thing to know is how to make the strokes. Strokes are important because they show how the characters are composed and enable you to write the characters more easily. There are six basic strokes that are commonly used. It is very important to recognize the strokes and follow the writing rules. Learning the fundamental strokes of Chinese writing and the correct order also helps memorize characters and is an essential basis to learn written Chinese.
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15. The Basic Strokes of Characters
A stroke is a single unbroken line drawn from the time you set your pen to paper and move it till the time you lift it off the paper.
Question: How many strokes (笔画) are there in the writing?
Give students some characters and ask them to count in Chinese.
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16. Although there are tens of thousands of Chinese characters, there are only 6 basic strokes (点-提). Each stroke has its own specific name. (highlighted in yellow)
When writing Chinese characters, some of these strokes are combined, resulting in what are known as “derived strokes.” ~ 《汉字的智慧》p.55
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17. Disciplines in Character writing
Can’t remove strokes from
刀(knife)
刃 (blade)
目 (eye)
日 (sun)
Can’t reposition strokes or change shapes
太 (too)
犬 (dog)
The other examples are: 午 vs. 牛；土 vs. 士；呆 vs. 杏
Introduce “stroke orders” at the end of this slide
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18. Rules of Stroke Order
1. Horizontal first, then vertical　十、干 2. Top first, then bottom　二、古 3. Left-slanted first, then right-slanted　八、人 4. Left first, then right　川、仁 5. Center first, then both sides　小、木 6. When making a dot, write it first if it is positioned on the top or upper-left. When it appears on the upper right or in the middle, write it last.　文、斗；犬、叉
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19. Rules of Stroke Order
7. With “closed” characters, make the outside strokes (left, top, right), then the strokes in the middle, then the bottom stroke that “clothes” the character.　回、 因
8. With semi-closed characters, there are three different stroke orders:
strokes in the middle before surrounding strokes 凶、言;
surrounding strokes before strokes in the middle　同、司;
top before middle before lower-left　匹、匠
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20. http://www. hwjyw. com/textbook/dzjc/zh/cd1/cyb
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21. Ask students to open their textbook, identify the text font – 楷书 and the teacher’s handwriting on the board (most likely 行书)
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22. Writing Styles
Cǎo
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23. Six categories 1. 象形 (xiàngxíng) Pictographs
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24. All Radicals are Pictographs
Radicals are pictographs which represent objects in the real world.
Some of them can stand alone as independent, one-semantic-unit characters. Examples include 人,口,雨.
Radicals may also be combined with other components to form a new character for which the radial serves as a clue to its meaning. Example include 吹 and 妹
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25. All Radicals are Pictographs
Some radicals cannot be used as independent characters but only serve as a part of another character. Their function is to provide a semantic clue to the character, such as 宀in 家, 囗 in 国, and 辶in 逛. According to most dictionaries, there are 214 commonly used radicals in Chinese.
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26. Basic Radicals (Matching)
人 口 山 水 日 月
rén kǒu shān shuǐ rì yuè
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
人 person
口 Mouth
山 mountain
水 water
日 sun
月 moon
土 earth
木 tree
雨 rain
火 fire
女 woman
门 door
土 木 雨 火 女 门
tǔ mù yǚ huǒ nǚ mén
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
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27. 2. 指事 (zhǐshì) Self-explanatory characters
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28. 3. 会意(huìyì) Associative compounds
Sun moon  bright 日rì 月yuè 明míng People tree  rest 人rén 木mù 休 xiū
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29. Combinations of Pictographs and Ideographs木 
(mù)
木 (mù)
林 (lín)
人(rén)
言 (yán)
信 (xìn)
１，木 (mù)  ＋木 (mù)  ＝林 (lín) woods ２，人(rén) ＋言 (yán) ＝信 (xìn) letter, credit ３，人 (rén) ＋囗 (wéi) ＝囚 (qiú) prisoner ４，田 (tián)  ＋心 (xīn) ＝思 (sī) to think ５，日 (rì) ＋日＋日＝晶 (jīng) crystle ６，手 (shǒu) ＋目 (mù) ＝看 (kàn) to look, to see ７，心 (xīn) ＋中 (zhōng) ＝忠 (zhōng) loyal, loyalty ８，日(rì) ＋一 (yī) ＝旦 (dàn) dawn, the moment that sun rises ９，女 (nǚ) ＋子 (zǐ) ＝好 (hǎo) good １０，亡 (wáng) ＋目 (mù) ＝盲 (máng) blind １１，人 (rén) ＋木 (mù) ＝休 (xiū) to rest
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30. Guess Meanings: Combinations of Pictographs and Ideographs
人 (rén)
囗 (wéi)
囚 (qiú)
田 (tián)
心 (xīn)
思 (sī)
１，木 (mù)  ＋木 (mù)  ＝林 (lín) ２，人(rén) ＋言 (yán) ＝信 (xìn) ３，人 (rén) ＋囗 (wéi) ＝囚 (qiú) ４，田 (tián)  ＋心 (xīn) ＝思 (sī) ５，日 (rì) ＋日＋日＝晶 (jīng) ６，手 (shǒu) ＋目 (mù) ＝看 (kàn) ７，心 (xīn) ＋中 (zhōng) ＝忠 (zhōng) ８，日(rì) ＋一 (yī) ＝旦 (dàn) ９，女 (nǚ) ＋子 (zǐ) ＝好 (hǎo) １０，亡 (wáng) ＋目 (mù) ＝盲 (máng) １１，人 (rén) ＋木 (mù) ＝休 (xiū)
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31. Guess Meanings: Combinations of Pictographs and Ideographs
手 (shǒu)
目 (mù)
看 (kàn)
女 (nǚ)
子 (zǐ)
好 (hǎo)
１，木 (mù)  ＋木 (mù)  ＝林 (lín) ２，人(rén) ＋言 (yán) ＝信 (xìn) ３，人 (rén) ＋囗 (wéi) ＝囚 (qiú) ４，田 (tián)  ＋心 (xīn) ＝思 (sī) ５，日 (rì) ＋日＋日＝晶 (jīng) ６，手 (shǒu) ＋目 (mù) ＝看 (kàn) ７，心 (xīn) ＋中 (zhōng) ＝忠 (zhōng) ８，日(rì) ＋一 (yī) ＝旦 (dàn) ９，女 (nǚ) ＋子 (zǐ) ＝好 (hǎo) １０，亡 (wáng) ＋目 (mù) ＝盲 (máng) １１，人 (rén) ＋木 (mù) ＝休 (xiū)
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32. 4. 形声 (xíngshēng) Pictophonetic characters
Question：The majority of Chinese characters fall under which category?
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33. Guess the Pronunciation: Combinations of Radicals and Phonetics
女(woman)
马 (mǎ)
妈 mother
木 (wood)
才 (cái)
材 building material
秀才读半边
女(woman) ＋马 (mǎ) ＝妈 (mā, mother) 木 (wood) ＋才 (cái) ＝材 (cái, building mertial) 水 (water) ＋羊 (yáng) ＝洋 (yáng, ocean)  言 (speech) ＋已 (jǐ) ＝记 (jì, to remember) 心 (heart) ＋相＝想 (xiǎng, to think)  人 (people) ＋主＝住 (zhù, to live)
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34. 转注 & 假借 5. 转注(zhuǎnzhù) Mutually explanatory characters
e.g 老 lǎo 考kǎo
‘elder’ ‘to test’
6. 假借 (jiǎjiè) Phonetic loan characters
e.g. 来 lái 花 huā
‘to come’ ‘flower/to spend’
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35. Disciplines in Character writing - Proportion & Structure
Chinese characters are called "square" characters, meaning no matter how simple or complex, each character fits inside a square. These structures will not only help you memorize characters, but also reduce problems with missing dots or strokes when writing. Understanding these structures will make even complex characters easy to remember. characters should be written with a sense of symmetry and proportion. Understanding how to mentally plot out a character within a square will give you one of the fundamentals needed for effective written communication in Chinese.
Wong, M., Fang, T., Chen, S.-h., & Chien, L.-t. (2011). 真棒. (A. M. Vargas, Ed.) St. Paul, MN: EMC Publishing, LLC and LiveABC Interactive Corporation.

36. Structure of Chinese Characters -Identify the radicals
One-semantic-unit characters (one part)
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37. Two-semantic-unit characters (two parts) -Identify the radicals
While going through the structures, ask students to identify the radical for each character as the review on the radical.
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38. Three-semantic-unit characters (three parts)
Identify the Radicals
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39. Review the Basic Strokes
diǎn
shù
A stroke
is a single unbroken line drawn from the time you set your pen to paper and move it till the time you lift it off the paper.
héng
piě tí
piě
gōu nà
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40. Let’s write yī èr sān sì wǔ 一 二 三 四 五 Liù qī bā jiǔ shí 六 七 八 九 十
Keep these question in mind:
1. What is a radical?
2. Why do we have to learn radicals before learning any complicated characters?
3. What is a stroke?
4. What are the basic strokes?
5. Why is it important to follow the stroke order?
6. What are the rules of stroke order?
Liù qī bā jiǔ shí
六 七 八 九 十
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41. Let’s write
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42. Let’s write
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43. Let’s write
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44. More Practice
2. Pronounce the name of each stoke in the following two characters
Mark tone marks for the following pinyin. Match them with the basic strokes. 点 横 竖 撇 捺 提 横钩 竖钩 斜钩 横折 竖折
dian pie shu gou
na heng gou ti
xiegou heng shugou
heng zhe shu
shuzhe 永 我
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45. Other Useful Links Character Stories Character Strokes
Confucius Institute Character Book
CN/onlinelearning/node_37311.htm
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