Chinese Characters Starting with "C start"

Every character has an origin. Discover the pictographs, myths, and history behind each Chinese character — with pinyin, stroke order, HSK level, and audio pronunciation.

畅

chàng

Though it looks like 'sun + stretch,' 畅 encodes 2

晨

chén

This 'morning' character hides a Bronze Age alarm

昌

chāng

Born as two identical suns carved in oracle bone s

斥

chì

A 5-stroke axe (斤) slicing through error — this

敞

chǎng

Born as a Bronze Age ritual act — ripping off a t

攒

cuán

This 19-stroke character looks like a crowd cramme

搀

chān

Its right side looks like 'star-studded participat

撤

chè

This 15-stroke 'removal' character hides a Warring

撑

chēng

This 'support' character hides a battle scene: its

摧

cuī

Its hand radical + 'towering mountain' phonetic vi

搓

cuō

This 12-stroke character hides ancient agrarian wi

挫

cuò

Its right side isn’t ‘sun’ (日) — it’s ‘past

扯

chě

This 'pull' character originated as a hand yanking

惩

chéng

Its 心 (heart) radical reveals Chinese punishment

惨

cǎn

Its right side '参' once depicted three stars — n

慈

cí

This ‘compassion’ character hides a mother cradl

蠢

chǔn

This 'stupid' character hides three worms — its 2

耻

chǐ

Its 'ear' radical doesn’t mean you hear shame —

幢

chuáng

A banner-shaped character that measures buildings

巢

cháo

This 'nest' character began as a literal tree-top

川

chuān

This 3-stroke character began as a bird’s-eye vie

崇

chóng

Originally a sacred mountain shrine in bronze scri

岔

chà

This mountain-rooted character doesn’t just mean

寸

cùn

Originally a thumb-width mark on the wrist, this 3

垂

chuí

Originally a pictograph of flowing hair, 垂 evolve

嘲

cháo

Its right side is 朝 (‘to face’), its left is 口

嘈

cáo

This character looks like 'mouths multiplied' — a

喘

chuǎn

This character’s right side depicts a person crus

唇

chún

This 'lip' character hides a 2,500-year-old politi

呈

chéng

Originally a ritual gesture of kneeling ministers

丛

cóng

This five-stroke character began as a pictograph o

刹

chà

This 'temple' character hides a knife radical — n

储

chǔ

Originally a 'person wielding authority to prepare

侧

cè

Born from a diviner’s knife cutting ritual shells

仓

cāng

This 4-stroke 'barn' began as an ancient pictograp

侈

chǐ

Looks like a person (亻) trapped in a looping, sel

仇

chóu

This four-stroke character began as 'spouse' — th

串

chuàn

This seven-stroke character began as jade discs st

闯

chuǎng

A six-stroke door (门) imprisoning a 'horse' (马)

醋

cù

This 'vinegar' character is literally 'old wine'