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.

倏

shū

Originally two mythic emperors who killed Chaos wi

倌

guān

Looks like 'official' (官) but means 'herdsman' —

倅

cuì

This 'deputy' character 倅 (cuì) has zero strokes

倃

jiù

This rare, non-HSK character looks like a calm 'pe

伥

chāng

This six-stroke character depicts a human radical

俺

ǎn

Born in Ming-dynasty folk speech, 俺 isn’t ancien

俸

fèng

This 10-stroke character hides a ritual gesture: i

俷

fèi

This rare, fossilized character looks like a perso

俶

chù

This rare character hides a ritual secret: its sha

俴

jiàn

This 'short' character isn’t about height — it’

俳

pái

Born as 'a person who deliberately contradicts' in

俟

sì

This 'wait' character hides a coiled snake (巳) —

俞

yú

This 'yes' isn't spoken—it's carved in bronze, si

俛

miǎn

This character looks like a person leaning in — a

俚

lǐ

This character looks like 'person + village' — bu

伣

qiàn

This 'like' isn’t casual — it’s a ritual whispe

俑

yǒng

This character’s invention horrified Confucius —

俏

qiào

Born from ‘person + young/lightness’, 俏 isn’t

俎

zǔ

This 9-stroke character began as a literal drawing

俍

liáng

俍 is a linguistic mirage — a nonexistent charact

俅

qiú

This 9-stroke character hides a royal headpiece in

俄

é

This 'Russia' character started life over 2,500 ye

俣

yǔ

This elegant 'big' isn’t about size—it’s ancien

侹

tǐng

This rare character looks like 'person + court' —

侜

zhōu

This rare character hides a startling truth: its '

侚

xùn

This 'quick' character hides a timekeeping secret:

侘

chà

A 2,300-year-old 'I-speak' glyph — the only Chine

侗

dòng

Though it looks like 'same person' (亻+同), 侗 isn