Browse "HSK6" 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.

gōng

Its top looks like a bow—but it’s really a bent

zào

This 20-stroke character visually fuses FOOT + FIR

dēng

Its 19 strokes hide an ancient image of feet climb

bèng

Its right side is 崩 — meaning 'to collapse' — b

zōng

This 'trace' character hides a shrine in its bones

This 'step-on' character hides a wine vessel in it

dǎo

Though it looks like a dancer's foot, 蹈 hasn’t m

This 15-stroke 'tread' character hides a secret: i

yǒng

This 'leap' character hides a warrior’s foot and

guì

Its 13 strokes visually compress a person bowing h

kuà

Born as a pictograph of a foot vaulting a barrier,

diē

This 'fall' character hides a lost arrow in its ri

This 9-stroke character began as a clever pictogra

This character began as a diviner’s march toward

chì

Born as a pictograph of a naked person, 赤 evolved

zèng

Its 'shell' radical reveals an ancient truth: in C

lài

A 'shell-money' character (贝) with a 'knife' (刂)

This 'bet' character hides ancient shell money (貝

This 'poetic essay' character hides a shell of wea

xián

Though it looks like a simple 'shell + person,' 贤

zéi

Born as a bronze-age pictograph of armed robbery a

贿

huì

Its 'shell' radical reveals ancient cowrie-currenc

lìn

This 10-stroke character began as a bronze-age con

Its left side is 贝 (ancient money), its right sid

biǎn

Born from ancient shell-money accounting, 贬 evolv

guàn

Originally a picture of shell money strung on a ro

tān

This 8-stroke character literally pictures a mouth

fàn

Though it looks like ‘fan’ + ‘shell,’ 贩 liter

pín

Born as a bronze-age image of hands tearing apart

shù

This character began as a bronze-age image of a wa

Originally a ritual mountain glyph, 岂 evolved int

Its ancient form shows a person kneeling to speak

qiǎn

This 'censure' character hides a weapon in its rig

This 20-stroke HSK 6 character embeds ancient ritu

Born from 'speech' + 'universality', 谱 isn’t jus

Born as 'speech from a ceremonial platform,' this

miù

Thirteen strokes of tangled logic: 谬 isn’t just

yáo

Originally 'speech woven with resonant sound,' thi

bàng

Originally a bronze-age visual pun — 'speech (言)

Its right side 迷 literally means 'lost in rice'