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.

幋

pán

This 'large scarf' character hides a poetic secret

幄

wò

This elegant 12-stroke character isn’t just ‘ten

帏

wéi

This 'curtain' isn’t for windows — it’s a silk

帧

zhēn

A character born in the 17th century as a phonetic

帹

qiè

This elegant headband character vanished from dail

帷

wéi

Born as a bronze-age pictograph of fluttering silk

帨

shuì

This 'handkerchief' character hides a quiet femini

帣

juàn

This 'bag' character isn’t about carrying — it’

帟

yì

This ultra-rare character survives only in classic

帛

bó

This elegant 8-stroke character isn’t just ‘silk

帚

zhǒu

This 3,000-year-old character began as a literal d

帙

zhì

A cloth cover (巾) shaped like an ear (耳) — this

帗

fú

This 8-stroke character looks like 'silk + dispel'

帕

pà

Though it looks like 'white cloth' (巾+白), 帕 isn

帔

pèi

This elegant 8-stroke character looks like a silk

帄

dīng

It's not ancient — 帄 was born from a scribal twe

巿

fú

A 4-stroke relic of Zhou dynasty court attire — v

巽

xùn

This rare, 12-stroke character isn’t just 'obey'

卺

jǐn

This 8-stroke character looks like a tiny cup—but

巳

sì

This three-stroke 'S' shape isn’t a word — it’s

巯

qiú

A 20th-century scientific invention — not ancient

巫

wū

This 7-stroke character began as crossed ritual wa

巠

jīng

This 3,000-year-old glyph began as wavy lines betw

巟

huāng

This 'zero-stroke' character isn’t missing stroke

巅

diān

Its 19 strokes map a literal climb: 山 (mountain)

巓

diān

巓 is a rare, ornate variant of 巔 — identical in

峦

luán

This character’s nine strokes form a mirrored mou

巍

wēi

This 20-stroke 'lofty' character hides a triple-mo