Chinese Characters Starting with "X 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.

宵

xiāo

This ‘night’ character hides a rooftop full of s

嫌

xián

This 'dislike' character hides a woman holding two

媳

xí

This ‘daughter-in-law’ character hides a silent

墟

xū

This 'ruins' character hides a secret double life:

啸

xiào

This character looks like 'mouth + few' — because

嗅

xiù

This 'smell' character hides a phonetic secret: it

喧

xuān

This character began as a royal proclamation on a

吁

xū

This six-stroke character began as a pictograph of

卸

xiè

Born as a kneeling warrior removing armor, 卸 stil

协

xié

Its 'ten' radical isn’t about numbers — it’s tw

削

xiāo

This character looks like a knife (刂) next to 'Xi

刑

xíng

Originally a pictograph of a knife branding a knee

凶

xiōng

This 4-stroke character began as a pictograph of a

侠

xiá

This 8-stroke character began as 'thorny person'

仙

xiān

Born as a person atop a mountain, 仙 evolved from

显

xiǎn

Born from ancient sunlit rituals, 显 doesn’t just

项

xiàng

This 'neck' character evolved into Mandarin’s go-

雄

xióng

Originally a phonosemantic character meaning 'domi

限

xiàn

Originally a hill-and-river boundary marker in bro

闲

xián

This 'leisure' character began as a barred gate —

销

xiāo

Though it means 'to melt,' 销 isn’t for ice or ch

乡

xiāng

Originally two people bowing face-to-face in oracl

迅

xùn

Born from a flying bird glyph, 迅 doesn’t just me

询

xún

Born from ancient ritual consultation, 询 looks li

训

xùn

Though only 5 strokes, 训 packs 3,000 years of Con

血

xuè

It began as a ritual bronze bowl holding three sac

虚

xū

Its tiger-head radical warns that emptiness isn’t

胁

xié

This character began as a Bronze Age drawing of ha

胸

xiōng

This character literally means 'chest'—but in Chi

县

xiàn

This ‘county’ character began as a rope hanging

绪

xù

Born from ancient silk-making — where 'finding th

瞎

xiā

This 'blind' character doesn’t show a broken eye

献

xiàn

A dog under a hand offering sacrifice — this 3,00

歇

xiē

This ‘rest’ character hides a gasping mouth (欠)

欣

xīn

This 'happy' character contains the 'yawning mouth

析

xī

Born as an axe chopping wood, 析 evolved into Chin

旬

xún

This 'ten-day period' character began as a sun wit

斜

xié

This 'inclined' character began as a tilted ladle

叙

xù

Born from a hand arranging bamboo slips, 叙 isn’t

厢

xiāng

This 'box' isn’t for packing—it’s a stone-and-w