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.

An 18-stroke botanical specialist — one character

táo

This 'dunce' character isn’t about low IQ — it’

chá

This 18-stroke tree-character hides a 60-million-y

shē

A phonetic loan character invented in Qing-era Tai

qiáng

This 'boom' character hides a phonetic trick: 墙 (

qíng

A 16-stroke relic from ancient armories — this ch

jiǎ

This 'tree of merchants' hides a surprising origin

guì

This 'meeting-tree' (桧) isn’t about gatherings

léi

This 17-stroke character looks like 'thunder + woo

yán

This 'eaves' character hides a timber roof yawning

A rare, hyper-specific tree character — one chara

gàn

This obscure mulberry character hides two tiny dot

chēng

This 'tamarisk' character hides a botanical secret

zuì

This character looks like 'wood + expensive,' but

This 'dispatch' isn’t bureaucratic — it’s a woo

yǐn

This rare woodworking tool gave rise to a profound

lǐn

Born from ancient torchlight reflecting off roof b

tán

Though it looks like 'wood + explosion', 檀 actual

橿

jiāng

This 'commanding oak' character hides a botanical

shū

This 17-stroke 'axle-hole' character was measured

zēng

This rare character preserves China’s oldest arch

jué

This 16-stroke 'peg' character hides a Warring Sta

This rare, literary character looks like a tree st

This ‘mandarin’ character hides a poetic secret:

chēng

This 'prop' character isn’t casual—it’s the hea

tuó

This 16-stroke 'sack' character hides a Daoist cos

fǎn

A rare tree name born from linguistic alchemy: 木

náo

Though it looks like 'wood + right', 桡 has nothin