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.

jiàn

The Chinese character 见 (jiàn), meaning 'to see'

西

The Chinese character 西 (xī) means 'the West' —

Learning Chinese? 衣 (yī) is one of the essential

háo

Master 号 (háo), HSK level 1 — the Chinese word

cài

菜 (cài) means 'vegetable' or 'dish' in Chinese

chá

Discover 茶 (HSK 1): the Chinese character for 'te

píng

How do you say 'duckweed' in Chinese? It's 苹 (pí

xīng

6-stroke character 兴 (xīng) carries the meaning

nǎo

Think: 'Nǎo = NO (as in 'no rest for the brain!')

lǎo

老 • lǎo • 'prefix used before the surname of a

习 (xí) means 'to practice' in Chinese — a HSK 1

米 means uncooked rice — a foundational HSK 1 cha

The Chinese character 租 (zū) means 'to hire' or

shuì

The Chinese character 睡 (shuì) means 'to sleep'

kàn

Learning Chinese? 看 (kàn) is one of the essentia

gǒu

Explore the meaning of 狗 (gǒu): 'dog' in Chinese

8-stroke character 爸 (bà) carries the meaning 'f

How do you say 'to warm up' in Chinese? It's 热 (r

hàn

汉 means 'Han ethnic group' — the majority cultur

piāo

Discover 漂 (piāo): the HSK 1 character meaning '

méi

Think: 'Mei' sounds like 'may not' — so 'mei you'

气 (qì) means 'gas' or 'air' — a core HSK 1 char

huān

欢 is a HSK 1 Chinese character pronounced huān.

Think: 'YI' sounds like 'I'—I sit on a CHAIR (yǐ

zhuō

The Chinese character 桌 (zhuō) means 'table'—a