汉字基本笔画

Basic strokes Far from being complicated drawings, Chinese characters are made out of simple single strokes, all of them variations of only eight basic ones. All strokes have their own name and are written according to a few rules. It's very important to learn to recognize them, since the number of strokes in a character is often the easiest way to find it in an index... but this will become clear after learning radicals and the use of dictionaries. 1. The following are the first six strokes, the fundamental ones: heng horizontal stroke (written from left to right) as in the character yi (one) shu vertical stroke (written from top to bottom) as in the character shi (ten) pie down stroke to the left (written from top right to bottom left) as in the character ba (eight) na down stroke to the right (written from top left to bottom right) as in the character ru (to enter) dian dot (written from top to bottom right or left) as in the character liu (six) ti upward stroke (written from bottom left to top right) as in the character ba (to grasp) 2. The last two strokes have several different variations. The first group is composed by five strokes with a hook: henggou horizontal stroke with a hook as in the character zi (character) shugou vertical stroke with a hook as in the character xiao (small) wangou bending stroke with a hook as in the character gou (dog) xiegou slant stroke with a hook as in the character wo (I, me) pinggou level bending stroke with a hook as in the character wang (to forget) 3. And the following by two single strokes with a turn: shuzhe vertical stroke with a horizontal turn to the right as in the character yi (doctor, medicine) hengzhe horizontal stroke with a vertical turn as in the character kou (mouth) 4. Combined strokes are made out of basic ones. The following are a few examples: shuwangou vertical stroke combined with a level bending stroke with a hook as in the character ye (also) piedian down stroke to the left combined with a dot as in the character nu (woman) shuzhezhegou vertical stroke with a double turn and a hook as in the character ma (horse) If a character can be compared to a word in alphabetic languages, then strokes are like letters... learning them is the key to memorize characters. And then, characters don't only need to be correct, they should also be as beautiful and balanced as possible. It is therefore necessary to copy the single strokes many times (be it with a brush or, much easier, with a pen) to memorize their shape and thickness. Stroke Order Strokes are combined together according to a few fixed rules (and to several exceptions!). Learn these rules, because they're of great help for memorizing characters. They are also fundamental in case you need to recognize the first stroke of a character, but we'll talk about that again. 1. Strokes at the top before those at the bottom. The character san (three) is written this way: The character tian (heaven) is written this way: 2. Strokes to the left before those to the right. The character men (door) is written this way: The character hua (to change) is written this way: 3. Containing strokes before contained ones. The character si (four) is written this way: The sealing horizontal stroke must be written last ("close the door after you have entered the room") The character yue (moon) is written this way: But:  When there aren't enclosing strokes at the top of the character, enclosed strokes are written first: The character zhe (this) is written this way: 4. Vertical stroke in the middle before those on both sides or at the bottom. The character shui (water) is written this way: The character shan (mountain) is written this way: But:  If it crosses other strokes the vertical stroke in the middle should be written last: The character zhong (middle) is written this way: The fundamental rules - from top to bottom and from left to right - are easily understandable, since they are used in Western writings, too. The others on the contrary need a few exercise. Be sure to learn from the beginning the correct way each different character should be written; otherwise you may find yourself repeating the same mistakes over and over without realizing it, especially when you'll know hundreds of characters. Radicals All characters contain a particular component called "radical" or "side". These elements were once characters themselves, but some are no longer recognizable as such. Learning the radicals helps to categorize and memorize characters; the presence of a certain radical can even suggest the meaning of the whole character, which often relates to the original form of the radical. On the other hand, the non-radical component of the character often suggests its pronunciation, or vice versa. Chinese dictionaries contain more than 200 radicals, but you will easily memorize the most common ones. In the following lessons we'll present 60 radicals, each of them followed by three characters that contain them, by compounds and notes on their use. Please note that the shape of a radical changes according to its position in the character, and that the same radical could well be found at the top of a character and on the left side of another: our examples couldn't always show all of the possibilities. As for the pinyin transcription, we didn't put the tones (pronunciation doesn't really concern us by now) nor the umlauts that certain syllables have. #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 Radicals Original characters -- -- Pinyin -- -- yan dao ren Meaning -- -- word knife man Examples leng jing shuo dao xiu cold bing ice xi to practise capital di emperor xuan obscure to talk qing to request yu language to arrive jian sword kan to publish to stop fo Buddha xian Immortal Compounds lengyin cold drinks bingdong to freeze xiguan to get used to Beijing Peking huangdi emperor xuanmiao marvellous shuo hua to speak qing wen may I ask... yuyan language daolai arrival jianbing handle of a sword yuekan monthly publication xiuxi to rest fojing Buddhist scripture xiannu female immortal #1 The first radical is called the "two drops of water"; it usually appears in characters that have to do with coldness. It's placed at the left side of characters. #2 This radical always stays on top of characters. #3 This radical is called "speech", and it appears at the left side of characters that have to do with language. #4 The original form of the "knife" is also a radical; it's found at the bottom of characters, as in the first of the following. The second character shows a third form of this radical (placed on top): fen to divide zheng to argue #5 The fifth radical is called the "standing person", and is always placed at the left side of characters. The character it comes from can also be used as a radical; in that case it always stays on top, as in the following character: zhong crowd   #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 Radicals Original characters -- Pinyin er shui xin guang -- Meaning ear water heart broad -- Examples yang sun xian limit dui team jiu spirit you oil sha sand guai strange hui to regret kuai quick miao temple chuang bed ting court gong palace ke guest bao treasure Compounds taiyang sun xiandu limit duizhang team leader baijiu white spirit youhua oil painting dousha bean paste qiguai strange huihen to regret kuaile happy simiao temple chuangdan sheet jiating family huanggong imperial palace keqi polite lingbao Nouminous Treasure #6 The first radical is called the "ear", and it can stay at the left side or at the right side of characters. #7 This radical is called "three drops of water", symbolizes flowing water and occurs on the left of characters. Its original form is also a radical; in the following character is placed at the bottom but its position is not fixed: quan spring, fountain #8 The original form of the "heart" is also radical, and is always placed at the bottom, as in the following character: si thought #10 This radical is called "the covering top" and it always occurs on top. Characters with this radical are often related to the idea of house. #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 Radicals Original characters -- Pinyin men zou tu -- da Meaning door to walk soil -- big Examples jian space in between wen to ask xian leisure jin to enter yuan far mi to be lost di earth ta pagoda qiang wall cao grass hua flower ping apple tai greatest kua to exaggerate mei beautiful Compounds shijian time wenti question xianhua gossip jinbu to improve yuanzu excursion mixin superstition difang place dengta lighthouse qiangbi wall caoshu grass writing, cursive xuehua snowflakes pingguo apple taitai madame kuakou to boast meili pretty #12 The original form of this radical is also a radical, as in the following character: chao to exceed #13 The original form of the "soil" is also radical, and is always placed at the bottom, as in the following characters: chen dust zuo to sit   #16 #17 #18 #19 #20 Radicals Original characters -- -- Pinyin shou kou -- shan -- Meaning hand mouth -- mountain -- Examples da to hit zhua to seize ti to carry jiao to shout, to call tan to sigh ting to listen guo country tu drawing quan circle, to enclose dao island ling mountain ridge feng peak hang line hen very de virtue Compounds dakai open zhuazhu to catch tigao to raise jiaohan to shout tanci exclamation tingzhong audience, guoji international ditu map quanzi circle, ring daoyu islands shanling mountain ridge shanfeng yinhang bank hen duo very much daode ethics listeners mountain peak #16 The original form of the "hand" is also a radical, placed at the bottom or on the left: na to hold, to take bai to worship, to respect #17 The "mouth" is not always placed on the left of characters, as in the following examples: ming name shi history #19 This radical also stays on top or at the bottom of characters: sui year yue high mountain   #21 #22 #23 #24 #25 Radicals Original characters Pinyin shi shi quan nu zi Meaning corpse food dog woman son Examples wei fan gou nai sun tail ju to dwell zhan to spread cooked rice jiao dumpling e hungry dog mao cat zhu pig breast, milk fu woman, wife gu aunt grandson gu lonely hai child Compounds weisui to tail behind, to follow jumin resident, inhabitant fazhan to develop fandian hotel, restaurant jiaozi ravioli esi to starve goupi bullshit, nonsense maojiao mewing zhurou pork nainai grandmother furen married woman guniang girl Sun Zhongshan Sun Yat-sen guer orphan haizi child #23 The original form of the "dog" is also a radical, as in the following character: ku to cry #24 This radical can also be found at the bottom of characters: qi wife #25 The "son" is not always placed on the left of characters, as in the following example: xiao filial piety   #26 #27 #28 #29 #30 Radicals Original characters Pinyin ma si huo fang hu Meaning horse silk fire square door Examples qu to drive tuo camel pian to deceive hong red zhi paper xi thin, delicate lie violent re hot zhao to shine, to reflect fang to put lu to travel zu nationality jian shoulder fang house, room bian flat Compounds quzhu to expel tuobei hunchback qipian to cheat kouhong lipstick zhipai playing cards zixi audience, listeners menglie fierce, violent renao lively zhaoxiang to photograph jiefang to liberate luyou to travel minzu nationality jianbang shoulder fangzu rent biandan shoulder pole #26 The "horse" is also found at the bottom of characters, as in the following: ma to curse #28 The original form of the "fire" is also a radical, placed on the left of characters, as in the following examples: deng lamp yan smoke #29 This radical also stays at the bottom of characters: pang side     #31 #32 #33 #34 #35 Radicals Original characters Pinyin shi yu mu che ri Meaning to show jade tree vehicle sun, day Examples li rite shen deity, spirit zu ancestor wang king zhu bead qiu ball, globe lin forest song pine tao peach lun wheel zhuan to turn liang classifier for vehicles shi time ming light wan evening, late Compounds limao courtesy shenhua mythology zuguo motherland wangguo kingdom zhenzhu pearl wangqiu tennis linmu woods songshu pine tree taohua peach blossom guanglun halo zhuanhua to transform san liang qiche three cars xiaoshi hour mingbai to understand wanshang evening #31 The original form of this radical is also a radical, found at the bottom of characters: jin to forbid #33 The "tree" also stays on top or at the bottom of characters, as in the following examples: li plum zhuo table #35 This radical is not always found on the left side of characters: xing star chun spring   #36 #37 #38 #39 #40 Radicals Original characters -- Pinyin bei jian niu -- yue - rou Meaning shellfish to see ox -- moon - flesh, meat Examples fu to carry, to bear yuan employee cai wealth guan to watch gui regulation jue to feel, to awake wu thing mu herd te special shou to receive di enemy jiao to teach gan liver peng friend tui leg Compounds fuze be responsible for fuwuyuan waiter caizheng finance guannian concept guilu law ganjue to feel dongwu animal muchang pasture land tedian characteristic shouhuo to harvest didui hostile daojiao daojiao gandan sincerity pengyou friend huotui ham   #41 #42 #43 #44 #45 Radicals Original characters -- Pinyin qian -- yi shi mu Meaning to owe sickness clothes stone eye Examples ci sequence, next huan joyfully kuan a sum of money bing sick, disease ji illness, pain teng to ache bu to mend xiu sleeve ku trousers sha sand, grit ying hard bi emerald mei eyebrow yan eye shui to sleep Compounds cixu order huanying welcome fukuan to pay shengbing to fall ill jiku sufferings touteng headache buchang to compensate lingxiu leader kucha underpants shazhi sand paper yingzuo hard seat bilu dark green meimao eyebrow yanjing eyeglasses shuijiao to sleep   #46 #47 #48 #49 #50 Radicals Original characters Pinyin tian jin he niao yang Meaning field metal, gold cereal bird sheep Examples dian electricity bei to prepare liu to leave zhen needle qian money guo pot, pan si private zhong seed, type qiu autumn ji chicken ya crow ya duck yang to raise, to grow xian to admire, to envy qun crowd, group Compounds dianshi television zhunbei to prepare liuxue to study abroad zhenji injection qianbao wallet huoguo hot pot sichan private property fenzhong minute chunqiu Springs and Autumns jidan egg wuya crow yarong duck's down yangsheng to preserve one's health xianmu to admire qunzhong the masses   #51 #52 #53 #54 #55 Radicals Original characters Pinyin mi zhou chong zhu yu Meaning rice boat insect bamboo feather Examples fen powder cu thick tang sugar hang to navigate ban kind, way chuan boat, ship wen mosquito feng bee, wasp die butterfly fu symbol, talisman bi pen zhu to build chi wing weng old man fan to turn Compounds mianfen flour cucao rough baitang refined sugar hangkong aviation yiban general, common shangchuan to embark wenzi mosquito fengmi honey hudie butterfly yinfu musical notes qianbi pencil jianzhu to build chibang wing fanyi to translate     #56 #57 #58 #59 #60 Radicals Original characters Pinyin zu yu yu gu gui Meaning foot rain fish bone demon Examples pao to run lu road tiao to jump xue snow lei thunder xu to need lu dull, stupid xian fresh, tasty e crocodile hai skeleton sui marrow du -- kui chief, head hun hun soul mo evil spirit Compounds paoxie running shoes lubiao road sign tiaozao flea xiaxue to snow leiting thunderclap xuyao to need Lu Xun Lu Xun xianhuo fresh goods eyu crocodile haigu human bones jisui spinal cord dulou skull kuishou outstanding hunpo one's souls moli magic power