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.

miǎo

A 17-stroke 'grass radical' character that weaponi

xīn

Looks like 'grass + new' — but this 16-stroke cha

lěi

Though it looks like 'thunder + grass,' 蕾 isn’t

dàng

This 'washing' character isn’t about soap and spo

A grass radical growing over 'broken cloth' — thi

This character looks like lush vegetation (艹) but

màn

Its 14 strokes literally trace a vine’s path — a

miè

A grass radical (艹) crowns a weapon-like stroke

péng

This ‘fleabane’ character doesn’t just name a w

Though it looks like a plant growing over livestoc

cāng

Though it looks like 'grass + granary,' 苍 isn’t

zhēng

This 'evaporate' character began as steam rising f

Though it means 'stem', 蒂 is built with 帝 (emper

hūn

This 'vegetable' character contains no vegetable i

zàng

Its grass radical (艹) doesn’t mean ‘plant’ her

dǒng

Though it looks like 'grass + heavy', 董 originate

wěi

A grass radical atop 'a woman collapsing under wei

méng

This character began as a pictograph of plants bur

jūn

This 'germ' character hides an ancient mushroom —

Born as a sunset pictograph — two plants swallowi

jīng

Though it looks like a simple plant stalk, 茎 once

zhuāng

This six-stroke character for 'farmstead' gave its

huāng

Originally a pictograph of weeds choking a broken

máng

Though it looks like 'grass' plus 'busy', 茫 actua

mào

Its lower half hides the character for 'hair' (毛)

ruò

Originally a ritual bow depicted in oracle bone sc

gǒu

Born as a dog’s drooping tongue, 苟 evolved from

Its 'tooth' component isn't dental — it's the vis