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.

jué

This 'dig' character doesn’t show a shovel—it sh

qiā

This character’s 11 strokes visually reenact thum

tāo

This character began as a hand plunging into a cla

xiān

Originally a hand ripping open a curtain — today

pěng

This 11-stroke character hides a ritual: every tim

Born as a hand chasing prey in ancient scripts, 捕

niē

Originally meaning 'to shape clay with fingers,'

shāo

This 'hand + little' character captures China’s g

hàn

This 'ward off' character hides a warrior’s grip

zhuō

Though it looks like 'hand + foot,' 捉 evolved fro

kǔn

This ‘bunch’ character is actually a rope-tighte

wǎn

This 'pull' character began as a hand gripping a r

cuò

Its right side isn’t ‘sun’ (日) — it’s ‘past

nuó

A deceptively simple 9-stroke character whose hand

āi

Born from a hand guiding a bending figure, this 10

This character began as a hand plunging into a cav

kuà

This 9-stroke character hides a 2,300-year-old phy

zhuāi

Its seal-script origin shows a commander's banner

zhuō

This 'awkward' character is actually ancient perfo

Its right side 句 means 'sentence' — so 拘 litera

tuō

Its ancient form pictured a hand dragging a ceremo

This 8-stroke character looks like a hand pressing

bàn

This 'mixing' character hides a rebellious origin:

pāo

Originally picturing a hand scattering ash, 抛 evo

zhǔ

Looks like 'hand + master' — but it’s really 'ha

This ‘wipe’ character hides a poetic secret: its

Though it means 'to press against', 抵 also means

kàng

Originally a carpenter’s glyph showing a hand bra