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.

miǎn

This character looks like a person avoiding duty

zhì

This elegant, forgotten character encodes ancient

This rare, elegant character looks like 'pay' (付)

A rare literary character whose very shape — a pe

chǒu

This character doesn’t exist — it’s a ghost gly

zhàn

This ‘orderly’ character isn’t about tidiness

huáng

This 'leisure' character is actually a crowned per

bèi

Its ancient form shows two people turning away —

xié

This 'together' character hides a Bronze Age hands

A vanished architectural metaphor: ‘person under

wēi

Its 'power' radical 威 isn’t about strength—it’

ruò

This 'so' character isn’t just an intensifier —

This 11-stroke character looks like a person (亻)

yǎn

This 'supine' character began as a bronze-age draw

This character was invented in the 1970s solely to

nǎi

倷 isn’t in Mandarin—it’s a living Wu dialect p

This character began as 'a kneeling person' — the

zhuō

Born from a Zhou dynasty banner beside a person,

Looks like 'knee' + 'person' — and it is: 倪 visu

qiàn

This 'pretty' character secretly moonlights as a p

This 'haughty' character hides a Bronze Age pose:

kōng

This 10-stroke 'ignorant' character hides a poetic

jié

A forgotten elegance: 倢 hasn't been spoken aloud

jìng

This 10-stroke 'strong' character isn’t about mus

gàn

This 'dawn' character hides two ancient suns above

This 'energetic' character hides a Tang-dynasty ar

Its right side evolved from a masked ritual figure

tán

Looks like 'person at dawn' — and that’s exactly