Browse Characters — Learn Chinese Through Stories

Every character has an origin. Discover the pictographs, myths, and history behind each Chinese character — with pinyin, stroke order, HSK level, and audio pronunciation.

fěi

A tree named after a bandit: 榧 uses the ‘bandit

gàn

This 'trunk' character hides a drought in its bone

huǎng

This character isn’t just 'screen' — it’s the w

jié

A rare, barnyard-specific noun born in Ming-era fa

This ultra-rare character has zero strokes missing

zhēn

Though it looks like 'Qin' with a tree radical, 榛

róng

This character looks like a tree holding space —

láng

This 'tall tree' character is most famous for nami

jiǎ

This 'hackberry tree' character is a linguistic gh

Though it looks like a tree with a 'you' climbing

tán

A rare, region-specific character born from Guangd

pǐn

This rare classifier looks like 'wood + graded ite

yíng

This 'pillar' character doesn’t just hold up roof

qiū

Though pronounced 'qiū' like 'autumn', 楸 isn’t

jiē

One character, two worlds: jiē names a resilient

shǔn

Despite looking like 'shield' (盾), 楯 (shǔn) mea

chǔ

This 'master tree' (木+主) isn’t just any mulberr

jié

Though pronounced jié like 'exhaust' or 'lift',

This 'oar' character hides a jet-engine sound (jí

dié

This 'small dish' character hides a wood-and-leaf

xuàn

This 'blocking' character doesn’t obstruct — it

méi

This 'door eyebrow' (méi) is literally named afte

yóu

A rare, Japan-borrowed botanical term — not in HS

nán

This 'nan' isn't 'south' or 'difficult'—it's a 2,

tíng

This 'tree' character is a living fossil — visual

liàn

This 'bitter tree' character hides a phonetic secr

Looks like 'ancient wood' — but 楛 isn’t aged gr

mào

This 13-stroke rarity is the only Chinese characte