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.

áo

This mouth-shaped scream (口) married to a dancing

tōng

Born in Ming-Qing street theater, 嗵 isn’t just

diǎ

Born in 1920s Shanghai slang, this 'coy' character

Born in Ming dynasty novels, this 13-stroke gasp i

háo

This 13-stroke 'howl' character hides a marshland

chī

This character looks like a mouth rejecting nonsen

A 'mouth' flanked by two 'completed cycles' — thi

wēng

Born from Buddhist chants to render Sanskrit 'Om',

jiē

This 12-stroke 'sigh' isn't drawn from life — it'

This 'sizzle' character wasn't carved on ancient b

This character was invented purely to capture the

shì

Born from mouth + ears, 嗜 captures addiction as t

qiàn

This 'pouch' character hides in plain sight — its

This ‘wū’ isn’t a crow’s call — it’s the qu

pǎng

Born in Qing-era street comedy, 嗙 isn’t ancient

sōu

Born from pure sound necessity — not ancient scri

This character isn’t used in speech or writing to

chēn

This 'anger' character hides a Buddhist bomb: its

Born in early 20th-century Shanghai, this 'machine

Born from snack-time chatter, not ancient scriptur

hài

Born in Ming fiction as a phonetic mashup — mouth

suō

Born from folk speech — not ancient scripture —

ài

This character looks like a mouth (口) strangled b

gòng

A mouth-shaped ghost character: born in 1900s Shan

A 13-stroke anatomical term shaped like a 'mouth l

yōng

This 13-stroke ‘goose-coo’ character hasn’t cha

qiāng

Looks like 'mouth + granary', but it's really 'mou

shà

This 'hoarse' character hides a botanical secret: