Types of Chinese Characters
Pictographs are
characters which
represent concrete things
with an (slightly abstract)
image
雨 龟
Types of Chinese Characters
Ideographs are graphical
representations for
abstract ideas
Types of Chinese Characters
Compound Pictographs and
Compound Ideographs are
combinations of pictographs and
ideographs. Each element
contributes to the whole idea of
the single character.
雷
Types of Chinese Characters
Semantic-phonetic
compounds
诂 谝 谤
镑 钟
仲
中
钴 zhōng
zhōng
zhòng
(center)
(a last
name)
(clock)
Chinese Character Shapes
The most basic form of
a Chinese character is
a box which is slightly
taller than it is wide.
Chinese Character Shapes
Here are some
examples of simple
boxy Chinese
characters.
人
木
我
平
píng wǒ mù rén
Chinese Character Shapes
Another common form
are symmetrical
characters
Chinese Character Shapes
Here are some symmetrical
characters you have
already seen. Notice that
they needn’t be perfectly
symmetrical.
好
林
陆
吗
ma lù lín hǎo
Chinese Character Shapes
Symmetrical character
shapes can also be top
over bottom, or layered
男
宋
nà shéi sòng nán
娜 谁
Chinese Character Shapes
There are also boxy
characters which are non-
symmetrical. They do
follow certain forms,
however.
华
都
shào jiā dōu huá
绍嘉
Chinese Character Shapes
Some characters have
triangular elements to them
which cover or support
other parts of the character
健
近
yǒu yóu jìn jiàn
有 友
Chinese Character Shapes
These characters have
outside-inside structure.
同
月
闪
向
Characters with similar
structures have strange
stroke orders.
Chinese Character Shapes
These characters have
surround from the
upper-left structure
发
友
危
厘
Characters like these
are written outside first
Chinese Character Shapes
These characters have
surround from the
upper-right structure.
乃
包
可
乌
Characters like these
are written outside first
Chinese Character Shapes
These characters have
the surround from
above structure.
问
凤
闭
冈
Characters like these
are written outside first
Chinese Character Shapes
These characters have
surround from below or
surround from lower left
structure
建
运
达
凶
These two groups of
characters are written
inside first.
Chinese Character Strokes
There are 31 modern Chinese pen strokes that are used
to write all characters.
as in the character yī (one)
héng horizontal stroke
(written from left to
right)
vertical stroke
(written from top to
bottom)
shí (ten)
shù
Chinese Strokes
down stroke to the
left
(written from top
right to bottom
left)
down stroke to
the right
(written from
top left to
bottom right)
pié
nà
bā (eight)
rù (to enter)
Chinese Strokes
dot
(written from top to
bottom right or left)
upward stroke
(written from
bottom left to top
right
liù (six)
bǎ (to grasp)
diǎn
tí
Chinese Strokes
horizontal stroke
with a hook
vertical stroke with
a hook up to the
left
hénggōu
shùgōu
zì (character)
xiǎo (small)
Chinese Strokes
shùtí
vertical stroke with
a hook up to the
right
cháng (length) lǚ (travel)
wāngōu
bending stroke
with a hook
gǒu (dog)
Chinese Strokes
slant stroke
with a hook
level bending
stroke with a
hook
wàng (to forget)
wǒ (I, me)
xiégou1
wògōu
Chinese Strokes
horizontal stroke
with a vertical
turn
vertical stroke
with a
horizontal turn
to the right
yī (doctor, medicine)
kǒu (mouth)
heng2zhe2
shu4zhe2
Chinese Strokes
么
给
down stroke to the
left combined with a
dot
down stroke to
the left
combined with
a long
horizontal
stroke
piězhé
piědiǎn
gěi (to give)
me (grammatical
particle)
nǚ (female)
Chinese Strokes
礼
冬
多
水
vertical stroke
combined with a
level bending
stroke with a
hook
horizontal stroke
which turns into a
diagonal
yě (also)
shuǐ (water)
duō (many)
dōng (winter)
lǐ (present)
héngpiě
shùwāngōu
Chinese Strokes
力
月
门
horizontal
downward-
turning stroke
with a hook
horizontal
downward-
turning stroke
with a tail 没 船
héngzhéwān
héngzhégōu
lì (power)
yuè (moon)
mén (door)
méi (negative, not, non-) chuán (boat)
Chinese Strokes
héngzhétí
héngxiégōu
飞 风
left-to-right up-
then-down zig-
zag only used in
words radical
horizontal
finishing in
slant stroke
with a hook
tǎo (to demand) lùn (to discuss)
fēi (to fly) fēng (wind)
Chinese Strokes
up-then-down
left-to-right zig-
zag only used in
characters which
include zhuān
zhuān (particular, expert)
up-then-down
sweeping curve
only used in
characters which
include yǐ
yǐ
yì
(remember)
yì (art)
shùzhépié
héngpiéwāngōu
Chinese Strokes
shùzhézhégōu
héngzhézhépié
jí (and) jiàn (build)
mǎ (horse)
vertical stroke
with a double
turn and a
hook
horizontal
stroke with a
triple turn and
a leftward
stroke
Chinese Strokes
hengzhézhézhégōu
duì (team)
nǎi (used in conjunctions)
thus, so, therefore,
then, thereupon
Chinese Stroke Order
1. From top to bottom
(从上到下)
早
古
全
二
Chinese Stroke Order
2. From left to right (从
左到右)
好
你
叶
一
Chinese Stroke Order
3. Horizontal before
vertical (先横后竖)
七
王
干
十
Chinese Stroke Order
4. Diagonals right-to-
left before diagonals
left-to-right ( 先撇后捺)
大
又
八
人
Chinese Stroke Order
5. Outside before
inside (从外到内)
凤
可
厘
向
Chinese Character Shapes
These characters have
outside-inside structure.
同
月
闪
向
5. Outside before
inside (从外到内)
Chinese Character Shapes
These characters have
surround from the
upper-left structure
发
友
危
厘
Characters like these
are written outside first
Chinese Character Shapes
These characters have
surround from the
upper-right structure.
乃
包
可
乌
Characters like these
are written outside first
Chinese Character Shapes
These characters have
the surround from
above structure.
问
凤
闭
冈
Characters like these
are written outside first
Chinese Character Shapes
These characters have
surround from below or
surround from lower left
structure
建
运
达
凶
6. Inside before
outside (从内到外) for
both groups of chars.
Chinese Stroke Order
7. Inside before
bottom enclosing (先
里头后封口)
日
国
田
因
四 回
Chinese Stroke Order
8. Center verticals
before outside
"wings"( 先中间后两边)
来
永
水
小
Chinese Stroke Order
9. Cutting strokes last
( 相交笔画后写)
羊
干
中
Chinese Stroke Order
10. Left vertical before
enclosing ( 先左竖后封
口)
国
田
口
日
Chinese Stroke Order
11. Top or upper-left
dots first ( 点在上边或
左上先写)
闪
永
为
衣
Chinese Stroke Order
12. Inside or upper-
right dots last ( 点在右
上或里边后写)
玉
瓦
为
我

Chinese-Strokes.ppt