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 'fundraising' character hides a sunset in its

This rare, forceful 'xù' character — with its be

This rare, elegant character fuses ‘past wisdom’

This character began as a leather halter tightenin

měng

This rare character looks like a tiger’s head roa

qíng

This 'violent' character hides a botanical secret:

This 8-stroke character looks like ‘why?’ + ‘mu

jié

This 'careful' character isn’t about avoiding mis

kuāng

This character hides a martial-philosophical secre

This 'leisurely' character hides a roof and a sigh

shào

Though it looks like a simple 'force' character,

This 7-stroke character looks like a bent 'Q' grip

liè

This six-stroke character packs three 'force' radi

This 19-stroke rarity looks like ‘sharpness’ (利

This rare character hides a botanical secret: its

chán

This rare character looks like a Zen master but ca

This 3,000-year-old character freezes a judicial h

huō

This 15-stroke character looks like ‘harm’ being

guì

This 'cutting' character hides a guillotine in its

guì

This 8-stroke character hides a guillotine in its

liú

This six-stroke 'axe' character vanished from dail

zhā

A 14-stroke bamboo-and-lightning character born to

qiāo

This rare 14-stroke character hides a vivid agrari

guā

This rare medical character hides a shocking truth

chāo

This 'plagiarism' character began as a pictograph

piāo

This 'rob' character hides a pirate in its strokes

This rare, elegant character fuses hand, sharpness

This 15-stroke character looks like a halberd (戈)