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.

tài

This 4-stroke character began as a cosmic exaggera

kuài

Born as a pictograph of a wedge-cut plot of earth,

zuò

This 'sit' character began as two people kneeling

huí

Ancient scribes drew a whirlpool — now this 6-str

ma

This 'question mark in disguise' has no meaning of

This 'drink' character hides a shout: same glyph p

Originally a ritual drum + mouth — this character

wéi

This 'hello' character hides a tail — not an anim

shāng

Originally a bronze ritual vessel, this character

This 'which' character hides a secret: its right s

ne

Born as a phonetic placeholder, not a pictograph,

tīng

This 7-stroke character hides an ancient scene: ea

míng

Ancient 名 pictured a person ritually announced al

chī

This 'eat' character hides a begging person inside

jiào

Born 3,200 years ago as a mouth beside coiled rope

yǒu

This 'friend' character began as two hands shaking

běi

Originally a pictograph of two people back-to-back

This two-stroke character began as a pictograph of

lěng

Though it looks like just 'ice + command', 冷’s a

zài

This 'again' character hides a 3,000-year-old ritu

liù

Originally a flowing roof glyph — now China’s lu

This 'eight' began as a pictograph of parting hand

ér

This two-stroke 'child' was once a full-body oracl

xiān

This 'first' character began as a pair of legs ste

zuò

This 'make' character began as 'a person initiatin

hòu

This 'wait' character began as a servant standing

This 7-stroke character began as knotted silk thre

Born from an ancient paired glyph '尔', 你 shed it