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.

zhuó

Born from a pheasant’s soaring tail feathers and

This 17-stroke 'thumb' character once depicted a h

This 16-stroke character visually enacts its meani

This rare character looks like 'hand + ancient' bu

qín

Its right side 禽 began as a pictograph of a bird

huàn

This 16-stroke character hides a Bronze Age bluepr

chuò

This 16-stroke character hides four 'again' hands

Its right side 卢 once meant 'northern tribal camp

léi

This 16-stroke character hides thunder in its bone

gǎn

This 16-stroke character looks like a hand grippin

This 'hand-tapping' character vanished from everyd

qiào

This 'stick-beating' character hides a Confucian l

Though it looks like a simple hand-strike characte

qìn

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

tuǒ

撱 doesn't exist — it's a digital ghost born from

zhuàn

Though it looks like a simple 'hand + something' c

cuō

A 15-stroke phono-semantic marvel: 扌 + 最 — wher

qiào

Born from a bird’s arched tail feathers, this 'pr

liāo

Its right side hides an ancient fire glyph — this

juē

This character looks like a hand forcing something

dǎn

This 'brush away' character hides a grain-filled a

dǎn

This 'dust' character is a living relic: identical

jiǎo

This 9-stroke 'raise' character hides a martial ar

niǎn

This character began as a pictograph of fingers sp

zǔn

Its right side is a ritual wine vessel — this cha

xián

This character began as a bronze-age drawing of a

ruán

This rare, poetic character hides a vivid bronze-a

xiàn

This rare character hides a desert in its strokes: