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.

xióng

This 'bear' character hides fire under its fur —

liàn

This character began as a bronze-age blacksmith po

zhào

This 'according to' character began as a Bronze Ag

zǎo

This 'bath' character hides a botanical secret: it

mǎn

Though it means 'full', 满’s water radical and 13

This 'thirsty' character hides a paradox: its wate

qīng

This 'clear' character hides a dynasty: the Qing r

jìng

Born from ice and striving, 净 isn’t just ‘clean

zhù

This ‘pour-into’ character began as a Bronze Age

That little 'hé' sound hides a 3,000-year-old wat

qiú

This 'seek' character began as a priest’s sacred

duàn

This 'paragraph' character began as a Bronze Age i

jiǎn

Born from ancient wooden tally sticks used to veri

shù

This 'tree' isn’t just botanical — its right sid

lóu

Originally two stacked wooden frames — this chara

Originally a person climbing a tree to its very to

chǔ

This 'kingdom' character evolved from a pictograph

This ‘ladder’ character hides a phonetic secret:

chá

This 'research' character hides ancient wooden bur

bǎn

Looks like ‘wood + reverse’, but 反 here is just

shù

It began as a pictograph of bound firewood — and

This 'plum' character is China's #2 surname — ove

duǒ

This 'flower' character isn’t drawn from a plant

It looks like a tree with a tiny crown — but thos

gèng

Originally a timekeeping term for 'night watch shi

Originally a pictograph of the sun passing through

chūn

Originally a ritual scene of hands tending sprouts

Originally a lizard shedding skin — now the name

jīn

Originally a bronze-age axe pictograph, 斤 morphed

liào

Born as a bronze ladle measuring grain, 料 evolved

wén

Originally a tattooed human chest — now the soul

Originally 'ancient action' — now the silent arch

fàng

This 'put' character began as a ceremonial act of

This 'according to' character began as a hand grip

dān

This character began as a pictograph of a porter b

Originally a hand picking grain from a field, this

bān

Born from a boat hauling cargo, 搬 still demands y

huàn

Its ancient form pictured two jade discs traded by

Born from a well-pole and a stepping foot, this ch

jiē

Born from ancient wooden tally tokens, 接 isn’t j