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.

This 8-stroke character looks like a tree splittin

fāng

Though it looks like ‘square wood’ (方 + 木), 枋

àng

This ‘horse-tethering post’ character hides a br

chǒu

This six-stroke character looks like a minimalist

zhù

This unassuming 8-stroke character hides an ancien

chǒu

This 'handcuff' character is carved from wood — l

shū

This ‘kill’ character vanished from speech 2,000

Though obscure today, 杷 began as a vivid pictogra

chǔ

Its lower part looks like 古 (‘ancient’), but it

xiān

This 'shovel' character hides no pictograph—it’s

yǎo

This character’s 'double tree' shape doesn’t mea

gǎo

A sun blazing above a tree — this 8-stroke charac

miǎo

This 'treetip' character (8 strokes, 木 radical) e

This 7-stroke character names a vanished Zhou dyna

A 3,000-year-old pictograph of a notched wooden po

máng

This character looks like a roof’s backbone—and

This character looks like a tree with a 'younger b

biāo

This seven-stroke character isn’t just ‘spoon ha

xìng

This 'apricot' character hides a split fruit: 十+

Though just a humble low stool, 杌 hides a poetic

shān

Though it looks like 'wood + decoration,' 杉 isn't

This character began as a Bronze Age trowel-in-han

This 'bowl' character hasn’t been spoken aloud in

This 3,200-year-old pictograph shows a tree sprout

tíng

This 'bump' character hides in plain sight: 木 +

This 'tree' is actually a wooden rake — its shape

zhū

Originally a ritual symbol for sacred cinnabar pig

zhá

This 5-stroke character began as a pictograph of a