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.

熊

xióng

This 'bear' character hides fire under its fur —

戏

xì

This 'trick' character hides a warrior’s halberd

夏

xià

This 'first dynasty' character began as a dancing

向

xiàng

Originally a Bronze Age house with a window pointi

像

xiàng

This character began as a ritual statue — now it

信

xìn

This 'letter' character literally means 'person sp

心

xīn

This four-stroke 'heart' isn't just anatomy — it'

相

xiāng

This 'each other' character hides an ancient looko

行

xíng

Originally a Bronze Age crossroads pictograph — n

雪

xuě

This character’s top half is literally 'rain' —

笑

xiào

This 'laugh' character hides bamboo — because anc

洗

xǐ

This 'wash' character began as a Bronze Age drawin

息

xī

This ‘breath’ character hides a nose atop a hear

希

xī

Born as a sieve pictograph, 希 evolved from 'rare

姓

xìng

This 'surname' character hides an ancient truth: i

休

xiū

This character began as a person leaning against a

谢

xiè

Originally 'an arrow of words' — this character f

西

xī

This 'west' character began as a pictograph of a b

兴

xīng

This six-stroke character began as four hands lift

习

xí

This 3-stroke character began as a bird flapping i

星

xīng

This character’s four dots aren’t decorative —

想

xiǎng

Ancient scribes drew 想 as an eye gazing at the su

写

xiě

This 5-stroke 'write' character hides a 3,000-year

喜

xǐ

Originally a ritual drum + mouth — this character

先

xiān

This 'first' character began as a pair of legs ste

系

xì

This 7-stroke character began as knotted silk thre

些

xiē

Though it means 'some', 些 can’t stand alone — i

现

xiàn

This 'king-sees' character began as ritual jade ap

小

xiǎo

Born as three ancient dots symbolizing grains of s

学

xué

This 'learn' character hides a roofed classroom —

下

xià

This three-stroke character began as a dot beneath