Browse "HSK4" 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.

líng

A 3,000-year-old 'tooth-command' — this character

This character began as a Bronze Age drum pictogra

This 'silent' character hides a ritual guard-dog i

This 'beautiful' character was hijacked by sound

yán

This 10-stroke character hides an ancient salt-boi

This ‘duck’ character hides a quacking pun: its

nào

This ‘noisy’ character began as a pictograph of

jīng

This 'startle' character began as a pictograph of

yàn

This 'examination' character evolved from ancient

jiāo

This 'proud' character literally shows a horse rea

piàn

A horse (马) gallops across a scroll (the right si

shǒu

This 'head' character isn’t about skulls — it’s

cān

Though it means ‘meal,’ 餐 never appears alone

yǎng

This character began as a pictograph of a sheep un

bǐng

Though it means 'cake', 饼 has zero dessert vibes

jiǎo

This 9-stroke character hides a culinary revolutio

This 'advance' character hides a walking person ru

shùn

Originally a pictograph of a head flowing with a r

xié

This 'page' character began as a Bronze Age portra

Born as a tangled tree in ancient bronze script,

xiǎn

Though it means 'danger,' 险 began as a drawing of

suí

This character looks like a person walking beside

This 7-stroke character began as a Bronze Age draw

duì

This 4-stroke character began as a marching unit’

péi

Its ancient form shows a person beside a walled ci

yuè

Originally a gatekeeper inspecting travelers at a

yuè

Though it means ‘key’, 钥’s nine strokes encode

jìng

Born as a polished bronze disc in the Zhou dynasty

jiàn

Born as a crossbow trigger 2,300 years ago, this 1

gāng

This 'steel' character hides a mountain ridge — i

zhēn

This 7-stroke character began as a bronze-age symb

jīn

Though it means 'gold', this 8-stroke character wa

shì

Its left side 釆 means ‘to discern’ — like choo

xǐng

This character began as 'sobering up from wine' —

suān

Born from a wine jar and a banner, this character

jiāo

This 'suburbs' character began as a sacred ritual

yāo

This 'invite' character contains a walking radical

shì

Though it looks like it contains 'tongue' (舌), 适

biàn

This 'everywhere' character began as a pictograph

lián

This 'linking' character hides a chariot train in