Browse Chinese 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.

ài

The Chinese character 爱 (ài) — meaning 'to love

xiǎng

Master 想 (xiǎng), HSK level 1 — the Chinese wor

zěn

Discover 怎 (HSK 1): the Chinese character for 'ho

hěn

The Chinese character 很 (hěn) means 'very' or 'q

yǐng

How do you say 'picture' in Chinese? It's 影 (yǐn

diàn

The Chinese character 店 (diàn) means 'inn' or 'o

shī

师 (shī) means 'teacher' in Chinese — a HSK 1 ch

suì

Think: 'Suì' sounds like 'sue' — 'Sue is 3 years

shǎo

The Chinese character 少 (shǎo) means 'few', 'lit

xiě

The Chinese character 写 (xiě) means 'to write'—

The Chinese character 客 (kè) means 'customer; vi

Learning Chinese? 字 (zì) is one of the essential

妈 (mā) means 'ma' in Chinese — a HSK 1 characte

jiě

姐 (jiě) means 'older sister' in Chinese — a HSK

她 • tā • 'she' — HSK 1 Chinese character with

Master 女 (nǚ), HSK level 1 — the Chinese word f

tài

Discover 太 (HSK 1): the Chinese character for 'to

kuài

块 (kuài) means 'piece', 'lump', or 'chunk'—and

zuò

7-stroke character 坐 (zuò) carries the meaning '

huí

Discover 回 (HSK 1): the Chinese character for 'to

ma

Explore the meaning of 吗 (ma): 'modal particle fo

Think: 'HE drinks tea — HĒ = drink!' — 喝 (hē)

Write 喜 correctly: 12 strokes, pronounced xǐ, me

wéi

Discover 喂 (HSK 1): the Chinese character for 'he

shāng

Discover 商 (HSK 1): the Chinese character for 'co