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.

páng

Originally picturing a dragon under a vast roof,

dǎng

This 'party' character began as a bronze-age image

This character looks like millet + fire + person

Its 'harmony + bird' structure reflects how ancien

Though it means 'crow', 鸦 almost never stands alo

míng

Born as a bird’s call in oracle bones, 鸣 evolved

This 'fish' radical character has zero to do with

Born from Buddhist Sanskrit ‘māra’, this 20-str

This ‘ghost-white’ character (鬼+白) isn’t abou

hún

This ‘soul’ character hides a cloud (云) above a

Born as 'driving a horse with a whip,' this 7-stro

sāo

A 'noble horse in turmoil' — this 12-stroke chara

téng

Born as a dragon-coiling glyph over a kneeling hum

zhù

A horse (马) stands guard beside its master (主)

Though it means 'variegated,' 驳 evolved from 'pie

chí

This 'galloping' character began as a bronze-age h

chán

Originally a fierce pictograph of hands grabbing f

ráo

A food radical (饣) fused with sage-king Yao (尧):

kuì

This 'food + precious' character started as a knee

xiàn

This 'filling' character hides a double life: it’

This 'feeding' character hides an ancient manager'

rèn

This 7-stroke character hides a Warring States-era

This 5-stroke character looks simple — but its ‘

chàn

Though it looks like a calm 'page' (页) character,

diān

This character began as a climber's head on a moun

é

This 'forehead' character hides a phonetic trick:

jǐng

Its 'well' component (井) is pure phonetic camoufl

Born from 'askew head' imagery, 颇 evolved from 't

bān

Its 'page' radical (页) doesn’t mean paper — it

wán

A character shaped like a bouncing ball (丸) atop

sòng

Born as a bronze-age ritual chant before altars,

rèn

Born from ancient leather-tanning and blade-crafti

Born from archers’ leather belts tightening as th

gǒng

This 6-stroke character hides a Warring States-era

Originally a bronze-age symbol of lightning-strike

lòu

This 21-stroke raincloud character hides a linguis

xiá

This 17-stroke character began as a bronze-age ske

shuāng

This ‘frost’ character hides a secret: its botto

huò

This 'suddenly' character hides a thunderstorm in

báo

Its lower half ‘包’ doesn’t mean ‘wrap’ here