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.

屿

This ‘islet’ isn’t just small — it’s a mounta

dǎo

This 'island' character hides a bird (鸟) on a mou

àn

Though it looks like 'mountain + dry', 岸 original

shǔ

Originally a bronze-age image of hands submitting

Though it looks like a corpse (尸) overseeing a wo

Originally a pictograph of a person resting under

Originally a pictograph of a crouching person pinn

jiè

This character looks like a roof over a passage —

wěi

This 'tail' character began as a pig's curly tail

chě

This 'ruler' character abandoned measurement 1,200

shàng

Born from a bronze-age priest raising a sacred win

xún

This ‘search’ character began as a taut measurin

shè

Originally a dynamic oracle-bone drawing of an arr

bǎo

Originally a roof sheltering jade and ancient shel

chǒng

This character began as a royal seal of favor — a

kuān

Its roof radical 宀 shelters 見 — literally 'seei

níng

This 'peace' character began as a pictograph of a

This character is literally 'dusk under a roof' —

This 'reside' character isn’t about addresses—it

This ‘silent’ character hides a monk under a roo

宿

This 'lodge' character hides a kneeling person und

yàn

Its roof radical 宀 signals 'gathering under shelt

xuān

Originally a pictograph of official speech echoing

guān

Originally a pictograph of a sealed administrative

shǒu

Its ancient form shows a hand holding a weapon und

yùn

This 5-stroke character began as a Bronze Age draw

nèn

Though it contains 女 (woman), 嫩 isn’t gendered

jià

This 'marry' character literally shows a woman mov