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.

āi

This 'sorrow' character hides a royal ancestor —

yān

One character, three lives: yān (throat), yàn (s

Born in Ming teahouses — not ancient bronzes —

This 'chew' character hides a ritual altar inside

shēn

Despite looking like 'groan', 呻 actually means 't

This 'scold' character hides in plain sight: same

chéng

Originally a ritual gesture of kneeling ministers

hǒu

Though it looks like 'ugly mouth', 吼 has zero to

yín

This ‘chant’ character hides a time-traveling mo

tūn

This 'swallow' character isn’t about digestion —

lìn

Though it looks like a mouth guarding a 'W', 吝 is

jūn

This ‘monarch’ character began as a crowned mout

This 'lucky' character's most common modern use is

This six-stroke character began as a pictograph of

diāo

This 5-stroke mouth-character evolved from ancient

dīng

This 'sting' character isn't drawn from an insect

This five-stroke mouth-shape doesn’t mean 'speak'

dāo

A 5-stroke mouth + 'knife' sound — not for cuttin

cóng

This five-stroke character began as a pictograph o

pàn

This 'betrayal' character hides a severed pancake

xiè

Born as a kneeling warrior removing armor, 卸 stil

xié

Its 'ten' radical isn’t about numbers — it’s tw

zhuó

Originally a ritual figure standing on a sacred cr

bēi

Born as a kneeling figure in bronze script, 卑 evo

gōu

This 4-stroke character began as a Bronze Age fish

kān

This 'investigate' character hides a geologist's s

miǎn

This character began as a bronze-age scene of one

This 'flourishing' character hides a volcanic secr