Chinese Characters Starting with "K 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.

款

kuǎn

Born from ancient bronze inscriptions of kneeling

棵

kē

This character looks like a tree beside 'harshness

恐

kǒng

Born as a kneeling person recoiling over a heart,

困

kùn

This character began as a pictograph of a person k

克

kè

Born as a pictograph of a hand subduing a captive,

裤

kù

This 'pants' character started as battlefield gear

筷

kuài

This 'chopstick' character was born from superstit

空

kōng

Born as a pictograph of a wind-swept cave, 空 evol

渴

kě

This 'thirsty' character hides a paradox: its wate

哭

kū

This character started as two mouths wailing over

口

kǒu

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

卡

kǎ

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

刻

kè

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

课

kè

This 'subject' character hides an ancient tax-coll

考

kǎo

This ‘check’ character began as an elder wieldin

快

kuài

This 'fast' character has a heart radical — provi

咖

kā

This character was invented in the 1800s solely to

可

kě

Originally a ritual staff in a mouth — now the mo

看

kàn

This 'look' character began as a hand shading an e

客

kè

Originally a person under a roof with a ritual sta

块

kuài

Born as a pictograph of a wedge-cut plot of earth,

开

kāi

This four-stroke character began as a pictograph o