Browse "HSK3" Characters

Every character has an origin. Discover the pictographs, myths, and history behind each Chinese character — with pinyin, stroke order, HSK level, and audio pronunciation.

Though it looks like ‘silk + responsibility,’ 绩

zǒng

Born as 'bound hair + heart', this 9-stroke charac

liàn

This 'practice' character began as silk-refining

wǎng

This character began as a Bronze Age drawing of a

绿

lu:4

Born from ancient silk-dye records, 绿 hides a tex

jiē

Though it looks like a knot, 结 (jiē) doesn’t ti

zhōng

This 'end' character hides a silk thread — reveal

Born as a knotted rope ladder in bronze inscriptio

gāo

This 'cake' character hides a sheep — not for woo

jiǎn

Born from ancient bamboo writing slips, 简 means '

jié

Born as bamboo nodes, 节 grew into China’s master

xiāng

This 'box' isn't just wood and nails — it's bambo

suàn

Born from bamboo tally sticks held in hands and wa

kuài

This 'chopstick' character was born from superstit

This ‘answer’ character began as a pictograph of

This character began as a dog leaping from a cave

kōng

Born as a pictograph of a wind-swept cave, 空 evol

qiū

This character began as a harvest bonfire beside g

Originally a pictograph of hands lifting a sacred

wǎn

This 'bowl' character hides a stone radical becaus

ǎi

Its right side is 矢 — an ancient arrow used as a

duǎn

Born from a snapped arrow in ancient bronze inscri

This character began as a detailed Bronze Age draw

pán

This 'tray' character evolved from a bronze-age ri

Originally a taut animal hide pinned on oracle bon

shòu

This 'thin' character hides a medical diagnosis in

téng

Though it means 'hurts,' this character’s origina

huà

Though it contains 田 (‘field’), 画 has nothing

liú

Its oracle bone form showed a person guarding grai

jiè

Born as a surveyor's stake in a rice field 3,000 y

tián

Though it looks like 'sweet mouth' (甘), its right

píng

This 'bottle' character hides ancient kiln-fired c

huán

This 'ring' character began as a sacred jade disk

Born as a horned male ox in ancient bronze script,

This 4-stroke character began as a pictograph of c

piān

Originally a pictograph of a wood-slice with visib

Originally a Song-dynasty upgrade to 父, this 6-st

This 8-stroke character began as a clawed hand gri

shāo

This character’s right side (尧) isn’t just phon

dēng

This six-stroke character began as a detailed bron