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.

zhōu

Originally a walled settlement glyph, 周 evolved t

xiàng

Originally a Bronze Age house with a window pointi

shǐ

This 5-stroke character began as a hand writing in

zhǐ

This five-stroke 'only' character began as an anci

Originally a pictograph of a knotted rope under a

kǒu

This 'mouth' has no bottom stroke — because in Ch

shū

This 'uncle' character began as a hand harvesting

yòu

This two-stroke 'again' began as a full pictograph

cān

This 'participation' character began as an ancient

This 5-stroke character didn’t exist in ancient d

bàn

This 'half' character began as a carved line split

bāo

Born as a pictograph of a fetus in the womb, this

This 'exert' character hides a slave (奴) under a

gāng

Born from ancient sword-forging on mountain ridges

This 'quarter-hour' character began as a knife car

shuā

This 'brush' character evolved from a bronze-age s

guā

This 'scrape' character once depicted a hand gripp

bīng

This 6-stroke character began as wavy oracle bone

dōng

This 'winter' character began as a pictograph of a

mào

This character has no bottom stroke — because wha

diǎn

Its oracle bone form showed hands lifting a sacred

yuán

This four-stroke character began as a giant crowne

xiàng

This character began as a ritual statue — now it

sǎn

This ‘umbrella’ hides a 2,000-year-old visual pu

jiàn

This 'healthy' character hides a drummer’s hand a

jiǎ

This 'fake' character began as a priest stepping i

jiè

This 'borrow' character hides a time-traveling mea

xìn

This 'letter' character literally means 'person sp

wèi

Originally a pictograph of a person standing on hi

gān

This sleek 3-stroke character began as a spear —

This 5-stroke particle looks like a sigh — and fu

jiǔ

This three-stroke character began as a kneeling pe

shì

Born as three horizontal lines for grandfather-fat

qiě

Born as a sacred ancestral altar carved in bone, t

xīn

This four-stroke 'heart' isn't just anatomy — it'

shù

Originally a hand tallying sticks while stepping

zhòng

Originally a person standing on a mound to show de

xiāng

This 'each other' character hides an ancient looko

píng

Originally a bronze-age diagram of level ground,

This 'his' isn’t about ownership — it’s a liter