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.

rèn

Though only 4 strokes, 认 packs millennia of meani

huà

Though it means 'dialect', 话's ancient core is 's

jué

This 'see'-based character doesn’t mean 'look' —

shì

This ‘look’ character doesn’t depict an eye —

jiàn

This 4-stroke character began as a kneeling person

西

This 'west' character began as a pictograph of a b

This six-stroke character began as a 3,000-year-ol

háo

This 5-stroke mouth-with-a-scream-stroke was carve

chá

This humble 9-stroke character began as 'bitter he

píng

This 'apple' character 苹 originally depicted duck

xīng

This six-stroke character began as four hands lift

nǎo

This 'brain' character hides a secret: its origina

lǎo

This 'old' character began as a bent elder leaning

This 3-stroke character began as a bird flapping i

This six-stroke character began as an ancient pict

This 'rent' character hides ancient grain taxes in

shuì

This 'sleep' character doesn’t show a person lyin

kàn

This 'look' character began as a hand shading an e

gǒu

This 'dog' character hides a phonetic secret: its

This 'dad' character wasn’t ancient — it was inv

Its four-dot 'fire' base (灬) is literally the ash

hàn

This ‘Han’ character began as a river’s name —

piāo

This ‘floating’ character began as a banner in w

méi

Born as a drowning man under water, this 7-stroke

This 4-stroke character began as ancient pictograp

huān

This 6-stroke character began as a pictograph of a

This 'chair' character hides a Tang-dynasty cultur

zhuō

Born over 1,500 years ago as 'lofty wood,' 桌 didn