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.

lu:4

Invented in 1868 to translate 'chlorine', this cha

dàn

Born in the 1860s as a scientific loan character,

Born in 1919 as China's first custom-made element

qīng

Born in 1871 as China’s first systematically coin

This 11-stroke character has zero ancient history

ān

Invented in 1871 as a phonetic transplant for 'amm

hài

This 'helium' character was invented in the 1930s

This character was invented in 1933 — no ancient

dōng

This character was invented in 1930 — not unearth

shēn

A 20th-century invention with ancient lightning in

Born in the 1880s as a scientific loan-character,

nèi

Born in 1919 as a scientific neologism, 氝 has zer

A sun-shaped relic: 氜 (rì) is helium’s forgotte

chuān

Invented in the 1930s, 氚 is a scientific neologis

xiān

A 20th-century scientific neologism — no ancient

dāo

Born in 1930s labs—not ancient texts—this 6-stro

nǎi

Born in 1933, 氖 is one of Chinese’s youngest cha

piē

The only modern Chinese character invented solely

That tiny dot under 氐 isn’t decorative — it’s

This 22-stroke wool-rug character evolved into poe

sào

A literary ghost-word born from 'water + ruffled f

zhān

This 'felt' character hides a nomadic secret: its

chǎng

Born from fur and radiance, 氅 isn’t just 'overco

rǒng

This 'down' character hides an icy secret: its top

máo

This 8-stroke character fuses 'ox' and 'hair' to i

sān

This 'long-haired' character hides a celestial sec

jiàn

A 12-stroke fusion of 'feathers' (毛) and 'to buil

shū

This 'rug' character is literally 'hair + curve'