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Simplified-Chinese Character Reference Guide:
简体汉字工具书
jian3ti3 han4zi4 gong1ju4 shu1
This purpose of this page is to introduce the study of Chinese characters to the beginner Chinese student. If you would like to download this reference guide and all of it's accompanying indexes, please click on this link. This material can also be downloaded from the Downloads webpage.
这个网页的目标是给学习入门汉语的学生介绍汉字。 如果您想下载这个工具书及所有陪的表，请点击此链接或者上下载中心的网页。
This webpage is quite lengthy and so to facilitate easy navigation, a table of contents (shown below) has been supplied. The table of contents lists all of the subjects discussed in this webpage. My recommendation is to read one-by-one through the table of contents, starting with the Introduction and thenceforth, carefully reading every subject listed.
II. Strokes 笔画：
1. The 6 Basic Strokes 基本笔画
Basic Stroke Variations 基本笔画变形：
Pie Left-Falling Stroke Variations 撇变形
Na Right-Falling Stroke Variations 捺变形
Dian Dot Variations 点变形
2. Dependent Strokes 依附笔画：
Zhe Bent Stroke 折笔画
Gou Hook Stroke 钩笔画
3. Compound Strokes 复合笔画：
Heng Horizontal Stroke-based Compound Strokes 以横为基础的复合笔画
Shu Vertical Stroke-based Compound Strokes 以竖为基础的复合笔画
Pie Left-Falling Stroke-based Compound Strokes 以撇为基础的复合笔画
III. Character Structures 字的结构：
Independent Characters 独体字
Compound Component Characters 合体字
Two Kinds of Character Structures 两种字的结构
1. Independent Character Structure 独体字的结构
2. Compound-Component Character Structures 合体字的结构：
a. Left-Right Structures 左右结构
b. Top-Bottom Structures 上下结构
c. Partial Enclosure Structures 半包围结构：
d. Two-side Enclosure Structures 两面包围结构
e. Three-side Enclosure Structures 三面包围结构
f. Complete Enclosure Structures 全包围结构
IV. Radicals 部首：
Radical Index 部首表
How to Look Up Characters in a Dictionary 如何查字典:
1. The Radical Method
Character Look-up Index 检字表
Radical Shape Variations
2. The First-Stroke Method
Exceptions to treating the first stroke as the radical
3. The Total Stroke Count Method
Stroke Count Character Look-up Index 笔画检字表
Notes about the Total Stroke Count Method
4. The Pinyin (Alphabetic) Method
Looking-up Independent Characters and Difficult To Look-up Characters 如何查独体字及难检字
Difficult To Look-up Character Index 难检字表
Summary
V. Stroke Order Rules And Counting Strokes 笔顺规则与笔画数：
The Eight Stroke Order Rules 笔顺规则
Exceptions to the above eight stroke order rules
VI. The Relationship Between Character Structure and Stroke Order 字的结构与笔顺的关系：
Independent Character Structure 独体字的结构
Compound-Component Character Structures 合体字的结构：
1. The Left-Right Structures 左右结构
a. Left-small Right-large 左窄右宽
b. Equal left and right 左右相等
c. Left-large Right-small 左宽右窄
d. Left-up and down Right-large 左上左下和右边
2. The Top-Bottom Structures 上下结构:
a. Top-short Bottom-long 上短下长
b. Equal top and bottom 上下相等
c. Top-long Bottom-short 上长下短
d. Top-two Bottom-large 左上右上和下边
e. Top-large Bottom-two 上边和左下右下
3. The Two-side Enclosure Structures 两面包围结构:
a. Upper-left enclosure 左上包围结构
b. Upper-right enclosure 右上包围结构
c. Lower-left enclosure 左下包围结构
4. The Three-side Enclosure Structures 三面包围结构:
a. Left-top-right enclosure 左上右包围结构
b. Top-left-bottom enclosure 上左下包围结构
c. Left-bottom-right enclosure 左下右包围结构
5. The Complete Enclosure Structures 全包围结构:
a. Four-side enclosure with internal independent component 四面包围内部呈独体结构
b. Four-side enclosure with internal upper and lower component 四面包围内部呈上下结构
VII. Counting Strokes 笔画数
VIII. Classifying Characters 构字方法：
1. Pictophonetic (shape-sound) Characters 形声字：
Shape Radical Index 形旁总表
Sound Radical Index 声旁总表
Clarifying the term "radical (pian1pang2 and bu4shou3)" vs. "component"
2. Graphic Characters 形象字
3. Indicative Characters 指示字
4. Associative Characters 会意字
IX. How to Write Chinese Characters 入门学习写汉字：
I. First Step - Practice the Strokes 练习笔画
II. Second Step - Begin Writing Characters 开始写字
1. Chinese Character Frequency List 常用字表
2. Analyzing a Character to Discover it's Attributes 分析汉字为了了解它的特点
a. Determine the character type 确定汉字类型
b. Determine the character structure 确定汉字类型
c. Determine the first stroke of the character and the stroke order
确定字的一个笔画和笔顺
3. Stroke Order Character Dictionary 笔顺字典
Writing the strokes of a character 写字的笔画
Summary 总结
X. Conclusion 结论
Helpful books about Chinese characters
List of tables and charts used in this webpage
I. Introduction 介绍:
Chinese characters are the core and most important component of the Chinese language. Within them exists the essence, nature, meaning and feeling of the language. They have a history of over 5000 years and through those ages have transformed and evolved into the modern character system known today as Simplified Characters 简体字.
Because they appear to be complex in nature, Chinese characters, at first glance can seem intimidating to a reader and therefore seemingly difficult to understand. However, they are composed of a systematic sequence of strokes which result in and yield what are called "components". The components are then fashioned together, much like a jigsaw puzzle to create the final product: the character.
Through a study of the method presented in this webpage, a person can acquire a feeling for Chinese characters. Through frequent reading and writing of Chinese characters, the feeling can be further strengthened into a second nature. Developing a confidence with Chinese characters will open the door to a broad, expansive, and personally satisfying understanding of the Chinese language.
The 7 Universal Concepts of Chinese Characters:
This webpage is a result of my efforts to try to develop a logical and easy to understand method in which to introduce the concept of Chinese characters to the beginner Chinese student. I feel there are 7 universal concepts which serve as the common underpinnings to every Chinese character. These concepts start with the most fundamental, Strokes, and end with the more complex "Character Classification". The 7 universal concepts are as follows:
1. Strokes - are the basic fibre of a Chinese character.
2. Character Structures - Chinese characters have an architectural (internal, organizational) structure.
3. Radicals - are components within a character which the serve the function of allowing one to look-up characters in a dictionary.
4. Stroke Order Rules and Counting Strokes - rules which dictate the sequence of how strokes in a Chinese character are written and therefore, when looking at a character, how the total number of strokes within the character can be computed.
5. The Relationship Between Character Structure and Stroke Order - a character's structure will determine the order in which the strokes of the character must be written.
6. Counting Strokes - performing the actual mental act of computing the total number of strokes in a Chinese character.
7. Classifying Characters - according to a character's appearance, characters can be classified into four respective categories.
The first step towards understanding Chinese characters is to first understand their most fundamental and elementary concept: Strokes.
II. Strokes 笔画:
Chinese characters are written using strokes 笔画. There are three kinds of strokes: Basic 基本笔画, Dependent 依附笔画 and Compound 复合笔画. They are named "basic" because they only require one movement of the pen in order to be written. The basic strokes are explained below and sample characters that show the use of each stroke are provided.
写汉字时用的笔画有三种类型： 基本笔画、依附笔画和复合笔画。以下是所有笔画的解释和出示笔画的例字。
The 6 Basic Strokes 基本笔画:
There are six basic strokes 基本笔画:
有六个基本的笔画：
Basic Stroke Variations 基本笔画变形：
In addition, there are also the following variations on the 6 basic strokes: Pie Left-Falling Stroke Variations 撇变形, Na Right-Falling Stroke Variations 捺变形 and Dian Dot Variations 点变形
Pie Left-Falling Stroke Variations 撇变形:
Na Right-Falling Stroke Variations 捺变形:
Dian Dot Variations 点变形:
Dependent Strokes 依附笔画:
Dependent Strokes 依附笔画 are those which must be and are naturally attached to other basic strokes. There are two kinds of dependent strokes: Zhe - Bent Stroke 折笔画 and Gou - Hook Stroke 钩笔画.
依附笔画是必须的笔画，和其他基本笔画自然连接，包括两种： 折和钩。
Zhe Bent Stroke 折笔画:
There are three kinds of Bent Strokes 折笔画.
又三种折笔画：
Gou Hook Stroke 钩笔画:
A hook is formed by quickly lifting the pen. There are 5 kinds of Hook Strokes 钩笔画:
轻快地提笔形成钩，有五种钩笔画：
Compound Strokes 复合笔画:
The Compound Strokes 复合笔画 originate from and are a transformation of the Basic Strokes. They are called compound strokes because unlike the Basic Strokes, more than one movement of the writer's pen is required to write them. The first drawn line of the compound stroke determines to which Basic Stroke the compound stroke belongs. The relationship between the Basic and Compound Strokes is shown below. Note that the Dependent Strokes 依附笔画 discussed above are also a type of Compound Stroke because they too require more than one movement of the pen to be written. There are three kinds of Compound Strokes: Heng Horizontal Stroke-based Compound Strokes 以横为基础的复合笔画, Shu Vertical Stroke-based Compound Strokes 以竖为基础的复合笔画, and Pie Left-Falling Stroke-based Compound Strokes 以撇为基础的复合笔画.
复合笔画源自基本笔画，由基本笔画变形创造而成。复合笔画的第一个笔画决定其属于哪个基本笔画。以下是基本和复合笔画关系的解释。注：以上解释的依附笔画也都属于复合笔画。有三种依附笔画： 以横为基础的复合笔画、以竖为基础的复合笔画和以撇为基础的复合笔画。
Heng Horizontal Stroke-based Compound Strokes 以横为基础的复合笔画:
Shu Vertical Stroke-based Compound Strokes 以竖为基础的复合笔画:
Pie Left-Falling Stroke-based Compound Strokes 以撇为基础的复合笔画:
Important Point:
Upon visual examination, it's very obvious the Basic Strokes 基本笔画 are all written using just one movement of the writer's pen and are therefore on paper just a single physical stroke. However, upon examination of the Dependent Strokes 依附笔画 and the Compound Strokes 复合笔画, if we were to visually count the number of strokes, it would appear they are composed of more than one stroke because they require more than one movement of the pen. In fact, for technical purposes, they are not counted as multiple strokes. During writing of the Dependent Strokes 依附笔画 and the Compound Strokes 复合笔画, the pen is never lifted from the paper, so therefore these strokes are still considered to be just a single stroke. This is important to remember when you are counting the strokes of a character for purposes of dictionary look-up. For more information on counting strokes, please refer to this section: Stroke Order Rules And Counting Strokes 笔画规则与笔画数.
III. Character Structures 字的结构:
The process of writing a Chinese character can be summarized as follows: The Basic 基本笔画, Dependent 依附笔画 and Compound 复合笔画 strokes are combined to form Components 部分; the Components are then combined to form Characters 字.
可以这样总结写汉字的过程： 基本、依附和复合笔画组合在一起成为各个部分，然后再由各部分组合成为字。
Characters may contain one or more Components. When a character contains just one component, the character is known as an Independent (Single-Component) Characters 独体字; when it contains more than one component it is known as a Compound (Multi-Component) Characters 合体字.
汉字一般由一个或多个部分组成。由单个部分组成的字叫作独体字，由多个部分的话叫作合体字。
Independent Characters 独体字:
The following are examples of Independent Characters 独体字:
以下是独体字的例子：
书 shu4 (book) - 只有一个部分 ，这个部分由四个笔画组成： 横折、横折钩、竖、点。
This character has one component which contains the following four strokes: the
upper Heng Zhe Horizontal Bend, the middle Heng Zhe Gou Horizontal Bend
Hook, the center Shu Vertical, the upper-right Dian Dot
也 ye3 (also) - 同上 ，由三个笔画组成： 横折钩、竖、竖弯钩。
This character has one component which contains the following three strokes: the
center Heng Zhe Gou Horizontal Bend Hook, the center Shu Vertical, the left-side
Shu Wan Gou Vertical Curve Hook
电 dian4 (electric) - 同上，由五个笔画组成： 竖、横折、横、横、竖弯钩。
This character has one component which contains the following 5 strokes: the
left-side Shu Vertical, the top Heng Zhe Horizontal Bend, the right-side Heng
Horizontal, the center Heng Horizontal, the center Shu Wan Gou Vertical Curve
Hook
The above Independent Characters contain just one Component. Notice how the strokes of
the component meet and intersect to create a single inseparable unit. Because the strokes are
inseperable, the sum of the strokes are considered a component.
以上的独体字都是由单个部分组成的字。注意笔画如何构成每一个不可分割的部分。因为部分不
可再被分割，所以所有的笔画叫作基本组成部分。
Compound-Component Characters 合体字:
These are examples of Compound-Component Characters 合体字:
下是合体字的例子：
你 ni3 (you) - 有两个部分，左边的 "亻" 和右边的 "尔"。左边的 “亻” 由两个笔画组成： 撇、竖。右
"尔" 由五个笔画组成： 撇、横钩、竖钩、左点、点。
This character contains two components: the left 亻and the right 尔. The left 亻
component contains two strokes: the upper-left Pie Left-Falling, the center Shu
Vertical. The right 尔 component contains five strokes: the upper-left Pie Left-Falling,
the upper-center Heng Gou Horizontal Hook, the center Shu Gou Vertical Hook, the
lower-left Zuo Dian - Left-Falling Dot, the lower-right Dian Dot.
汉 han4 (Chinese) - 有两个部分，左边的 "氵" 和右边的 "又"。左边的 "氵" 由三个笔画组成： 点、
点、提。右边 "又" 由两个笔画组成： 横撇、捺。
This character contains two components: the left 氵and the right 又. The left 氵
component contains three strokes: the upper Dian Dot, the middle Dian Dot,
the lower Ti Lift. The right 又 component contains two strokes: the left-side
Heng Pie Horizontal Left-Falling, the right-side Na Right-Falling.
好 hao3 (good) - 有两个部分，左边的 "女" 和右边的 "子"。左边的 "女" 由三个笔画组成： 撇捺、撇、
横。右边 "子" 由三个笔画组成： 横钩、竖钩、横。
This character contains two components: the left 女 and the right 子. The left 女
component contains three strokes: the left-side Pie Na Left-Falling Right-
Falling, the right-side Pie Right-Falling, the center-top Heng Horizontal. The right
. 子 component contains three strokes: the top Heng Gou Horizontal Hook, the
center Shu Gou Vertical Hook, the center Heng Horizontal.
Notice how the left-side and right-side Components in the above Compound-Component Characters reside beside one another and come together to form the whole character. The components do not touch (or they just touch just very lightly) or make contact with one another. Because there is white space between the character's components, the components can be separated from one another and thus create the "multi-" component nature of the Compound-Compound Characters.
注意以上合体字，如何将其各个部分放在一起构成一个汉字。每一个部分与部分不相连接。因为汉字的各个部分之间都有空间，部分与部分可以被分割。
Examples:
"你" - 可以被分为两部分 "亻" 和 "尔"
can be separated into the components of 亻ren2 and 尔er3
"汉" - 可以被分为两部分 "氵" 和 "又"
can be separated into the components of 氵san1dian3shui3 and 又you4
"好" - 可以被分为两部分 "女" 和 "子"
can be separated into the components of 女nv3 and 子zi3
Since these characters can be separated into individual components, these characters are all Compound-Component Characters 合体字.
因为这些汉字都能被分割成几个部分，所以叫作合体字。
Two Kinds of Character Structures 两种字的结构:
As a result of there being two kinds of Chinese characters: Independent Characters 独体字 and Compound Component Characters 合体字, it then follows that there are two basic kinds of character structures: Independent Character Structure 独体字的结构 and Compound-Component Character Structures 合体字的结构.
Independent Character Structure 独体字的结构:
The Independent Character Structure 独体字的结构 is the simplest of all the Chinese character structures. It can be represented pictorially by a simple square, where the inner contents of the square will always contain an Independent Character 独体字. There are no further variations on this character structure. The diagram below illustrates the structure:
In contrast to the simplicity of the single Independent Character Structure 独体字的结构, the Compound-Component Character Structures 合体字的结构 have numerous variations. Below is an explanation of the various kinds of Compound-Component Character Structures 合体字的结构.
Compound-Component Character Structures 合体字的结构:
There are 4 Types of Compound-Component Character Structures: Left-Right Structures 左右结构, Top-Bottom Structures 上下结构, Partial Enclosure Structures 半包围结构, and Complete Enclosure Structures 全包围结构. These structures reflect the physical arrangement of the Components within the character:
有六种汉字结构： 左右结构、 上下结构、半包围结构、全包围结构。 这些结构反映汉字内部的结构设计。
Left-Right Structures 左右结构:
有五种左右结构：
There are 5 kinds of Left-Right Structures:
Top-Bottom Structures 上下结构:
有五种上下结构：
There are 5 kinds of Top-Bottom Structures:
Partial Enclosure Structures 半包围结构:
有两种半包围结构： 两面包围和三面包围。
There are 2 kinds of Partial Enclosure Structures: Two-side Enclosure and Three-Side Enclosure.
Two-side Enclosure Structures 两面包围结构:
有三种两面包围结构：
There are 3 kinds of Two-side Enclosure Structures:
Three-side Enclosure Structures 三面包围结构:
有三种三面包围结构：
There are 3 kinds of Three-side Enclosure Structures:
Complete Enclosure Structures 全包围结构:
有两种全包围结构：
There are 2 kinds of Complete Enclosure Structures:
IV. Radicals 部首:
We have already studied that strokes are the basic foundation of Chinese characters. When strokes are combined together, they form Components 部分. In the Chinese language, some of these Components can then have an additional purpose by serving as what is called Radicals 部首. Radicals are used as the indexing mechanism for looking up characters in a dictionary. The radicals have been organized into an index which we call the Radical Index 部首表.
Radical Index 部首表:
Please click on this link to view the Radical Index 部首表 and it's explanation.
How to Look Up Characters in a Dictionary 如何查字典:
There are four ways to look up Chinese characters in a dictionary: The Radical Method, The First-Stroke Method, The Total Stroke Count Method, The Pinyin (Alphabetic) Method.
1. The Radical Method:
The first and most commonly used way of looking-up characters in a dictionary is called the Radical Method. The Radical Method requires use of both the Radical Index 部首表 (discussed above) and the Character Look-up Index 检字表. These two indexes are used in conjunction to look-up characters in the dictionary. While the Radical Index 部首表 provides an index of all the radicals, the Character Look-up Index 检字表 provides an index of all the characters in the Chinese language sorted by radical name.
Character Look-up Index 检字表:
Please click on this link to view the Character Look-up Index 检字表 and it's explanation.
The Radical Method contains eight steps as discussed below:
1. The first step in looking-up a character using the Radical Method is to identify the radical. When looking at a Chinese character and analyzing which of the character's components is the radical, you can use the following Radical Method Rule:
Rule: The component with the least number of strokes or the component that is simplest
in appearance will usually be the radical. Sometimes, this component will also have an
appearance of being larger than the other components in the character. In Chinese, these
few-stroke, simplest in appearance-type components are referred to as Single-Component
(Independent Character) Radicals 独体字部首. Click on this link for more information on
Independent Characters 独体字.
Assume the character we want to look up is this: 锋. Using the rule, the component with the least number of strokes/simplest in appearance is the left-side component 钅, while the right-side component is much more complex in appearance containing more strokes than the left-side component.
2. Once the component with the least number of strokes has been identified, the next step is to count the number of strokes in that component. In the case of the 钅component, it contains five strokes. For an explanation of how to count strokes, please refer to the section titled:
Stroke Order Rules And Counting Strokes 笔画规则与笔画数.
3. The next step is to go to the Radical Index 部首表 and find the section where the 五画5-stroke radicals are located. It can be seen that in that section, the 钅component is radical number 122. Radical number 122 is named 金字旁jin1zi4pang2 - Gold radical and this radical has a shape variation of 釒.
4. The next step is to locate radical number 122 in theCharacter Look-up Index 检字表. It can be seen in the index that radical number 122 is identified by the heading 钅(釒) 部.
5. The next step is to count the number of strokes in the right side component of the 锋. Using the stroke-count method discussed in the Stroke Order Rules And Counting Strokes 笔画规则与笔画数 section of this page, we can determine that the right side of the 锋 character contains seven strokes.
6. The next step is to find the section under the heading 钅(釒) 部 where the 7-stroke characters are located. That section is labeled 七画 (7 stroke). The character 锋 is the last character down in that section. The pinyin to the right of the character is "feng1" (first tone).
7. The character entries in most Chinese dictionaries are arranged alphabetically, so therefore when looking for Chinese character entries in the dictionary, you can use the first character of the pinyin as your dictionary page starting point. In this case, since the character we are looking for is "feng1", we turn the dictionary to the page where the "F" pinyin entries start, then continue to turn the page until we find where the "feng" pinyin entries start. Since "feng1" is a first-tone pronunciation, we need only concern ourselves with the Chinese characters whose pronunciation is first-tone.
8. The final step is to visually scan every Chinese character whose pronunciation is "feng1". During the scanning process, your objective is to find the 锋 feng1 character among the entries. Once the character has been found, you'll then be able to read the dictionary's definition of the 锋 feng1 character. In this case, 锋 feng1 means "The cutting edge of a knife or a sword". Dictionary definitions will vary among publishers and editions. For more information about selecting dictionaries, see the web page entitled Chinese Language Resources.
Here are a few more examples:
a. 看: This character has two components, the upper-left component which contains 4 strokes and the lower-right component 目which contains 5 strokes. Using the Radical Method Rule, we determine that the upper-left component contains the least amount of strokes, so we look up that component in the Radical Index 部首表. However, we discover that it does not exist in the radical index (it is not a radical). Our next step is to then look up the lower-right component. The lower-right component does exist in the radical index: it is radical number 118 目 (目字旁mu4zi4pang2). By using the above 1-8 steps, we find the character 看 is located 8th down in the 二至四画 heading of radical (118) in the Character Look-up Index 检字表. The character is pronounced kan1;kan4, and after finding it's entry in the dictionary, it's definition is "see; look at; watch; think".
The Radical Method rule states: "The component with the least number of strokes or the component that has the simplest of appearances will usually be the radical". In the above example a. 看, although the upper-left component contained fewer strokes than the lower-right component, the lower-right component ultimately was the radical. The reason is that when comparing the appearances of the two components in 看, the lower-right component has a tighter, smaller and more cohesive structure, while the upper-left component appears more loose, large and lacks cohesiveness. We can than conclude that although the upper-left component contained fewer strokes than the lower-right component, the reason the lower-right component is the radical is because it was simpler in appearance than that of the upper-left component.
b. When a character appears to be complicated in structure and you are having trouble finding the radical, here is a method that you can use to help you find the radical. For example, the character we want to look-up is 朝:
1. First you would check the Radical Index 部首表 to see if the right-side component 月 is the
radical. Then you would check the Character Look-up Index 检字表 to see if 朝 belongs to that
radical.
2. In the event 月 is not the radical, then you would further analyze 朝 to find what is the next
simplest of components 部分. In the case of 朝, the next simplest of components is the
十 on top of the left-side component. You would then repeat step 1 to see if 十 is indeed a
radical and whether or not the radical for 朝 is indeed 十.
3. You would continue in this fashion, sequentially analyzing the character for it's simplest
components and then looking up these components in the Radical Index 部首表 and
Character Look-up Index 检字表 until a correct match is found.
c. Examples continued:
- The character 能: First look-up the 匕 component. If that fails, then look-up the 厶 component.
- The character 旁: First look-up the 亠 component which is on top of the character. If that fails,
then look-up the 八 component located beneath the 亠 component. If that too fails, then look-
up the 冖 component located beneath the 八 component.
The key to finding the radical of seemingly structurally complicated characters is to identify the simplest of the character's components and then sequentially look for these components (using the above 1-8 steps) in the Radical Index 部首表 and Character Look-up Index 检字表 until you locate the character.
Radical Shape Variations:
Another factor which can make identifying the radical inside a Chinese character difficult is that often times, the original shape of a radical (as it exists by itself outside of a character) and the shape it assumes once it resides inside the character can vary. For example, the 路lu4 character's radical is 足 (足字旁zu2zi4pang2) , but the radical as it exists inside the the character assumes a shape of . The " 部首形状变化 Radical Shape Variations" column of the radicals listed in the Radical Index 部首表 will show you the alternate shape(s) a respective radical can assume. In addition, the Dictionary Radical Index 词典部首表 will provide you this same information, showing the variations (listed in parenthesis) for each respective radical. Through the process of looking up characters in a dictionary and utilizing the various indexes, you will become more familiar with the radicals and their possible shape variations.
2. The First-Stroke Method:
The second way of looking up a character in a dictionary is called the First-Stroke Method. When looking at a Chinese character, there may be times when it is difficult to identify it's distinctive components, thus it is difficult to identify which of the components is the radical. This will particularly be the case with Independent Characters 独体字 (see the above section titled Character Structure 字的结构 for further explanation), the reader must use the First-Stroke Method in order to look-up the character in the dictionary. Similar to the Radical Method, the First-Stroke method also employs simultaneous use of the Radical Index 部首表 and the Character Look-up Index 检字表.
The First-Stroke Method contains seven steps as discussed below:
1. The first step in looking-up a character using the First-Stroke Method is to identify within the character which of the strokes, if the character were to be written by hand, would be the first written stroke. (For information on rules of stroke order, refer to the section in this page titled Stroke Order Rules And Counting Strokes 笔画规则与笔画数).
Assume the character we want to look up is this: 干. Using the stroke order rules, the first stroke in this character will be 一 (横heng2 Horizontal) which we will then regard/treat as we would a radical.
2. Since 一 (横heng2 Horizontal) contains just one stroke, the next step is to go to the Radical Index 部首表 and find the section where the 一画1-stroke radicals are located. It can be seen in that section, the 一 (横heng2 Horizontal) stroke is radical number 2.
3. The next step is to locate radical number 2 in the Character Look-up Index 检字表 . It can be seen in the index that radical number (2) is identified by the heading 一 部.
4. The next step is to count the remaining number of strokes in the character 干. Using the stroke-count method discussed in the section titled Stroke Order Rules And Counting Strokes 笔画规则与笔画数, we can determine that the remaining number of strokes is two.
5. The next step is to find the section under the heading 一 部 where the 2-stroke characters are located. That section is labeled 一至二画 (1-2 strokes). The character 干 is the fourth character down in that section. The pinyin to the right of the character is "gan1(first tone);gan4(fourth tone)".
6. The character entries in most Chinese dictionaries are arranged alphabetically, so therefore when looking for Chinese character entries in the dictionary, you can use the first character of the pinyin as your starting point. In this case, since the character we are looking for is "gan1;gan4", we turn the dictionary to the page where the "G" pinyin entries start, then continue to turn the page until we find where the "gan" pinyin entries start. Since "gan1" is a first-tone pronunciation, we first look at the Chinese characters whose pronunciation is first-tone.
7. The final step is to visually scan every Chinese character whose pronunciation is "gan1". During the scanning process, your objective is to find the 干 gan1 character among the entries. Once the character has been found, you'll then be able to read the dictionary's definition of the 干 gan1 character. In this case, 干 gan1 means "dry, empty". Since 干 also has a pronunciation of gan4, we then repeat steps 6 and 7 to locate 干 gan4 in the dictionary. Dictionary definitions will vary among publishers and editions. For more information about selecting dictionaries, see the web page entitled Chinese Language Resources.
Exceptions to treating the first stroke as the radical:
The rules of stroke order are not an exact science and there will be times when the first stroke of a Independent Character 独体字 can not be treated as a radical. You will know this to be true when after identifying the first stroke of a character, you can't find the character in the Character Look-up Index 检字表. When you encounter this kind of situation, an alternative is to identify the second (or third, fourth, etc) stroke of the character and then treat that stroke as the radical.
For example, in the character 头 tou2, the first written stroke is the upper-left "、" (点dian3 dot), but in some cases, depending on the writer's point of view and style of writing, 一 (横heng2 Horizontal) will be the first written stroke. Therefore it's possible that "、" and/or "一" could serve as the radical. The point here is that if you know the rules of stroke order, you can sequentially go through all of the strokes in a character until you find the one that the Character Look-up Index 检字表 regards as the character's radical.
3. The Total Stroke Count Method:
The third way of looking-up characters in a dictionary is called the Total Stroke Count Method. Some dictionaries provide what is called a Stroke Count Character Index 笔画检字表. Unlike the Character Look-up Index 检字表 which is sorted and arranged by radical, this index provides a listing of all the characters in the Chinese language sorted and arranged by stroke count.
Stroke Count Character Look-up Index 笔画检字表:
Please click on this link to view the Stroke Count Character Look-up Index 笔画检字表 and it's explanation.
There are two cases when the Total Stroke Count Method can be very useful for looking-up characters in a dictionary:
1. The character is very complex and contains a large number of strokes, thus making the
identification of the radical very difficult. These kinds of characters are called
Difficult To Look-Up Characters 难检字.
2. The character is very simple and contains a few number of strokes, particulary in the case of
Independent Characters 独体字, thus there is no clear and apparent radical.
(If you are dealing with a character that meets the criteria specified in 1 or 2 above, then it might be more feasible to use yet an alternate look-up method specified in the section titled: Looking-up Independent Characters and Difficult To Look-up Characters 如何查独体字及难检字)
The Total Stroke Count Method contains four steps as discussed below:
1. The first step in looking-up a character using the Radical Method is to count the total number of strokes in the character using the rules outlined in the section titled Stroke Order Rules And Counting Strokes 笔画规则与笔画数.
Assume the character we want to look up is this: 电. Using the stroke order rules, we determine that the total number of strokes in the character is five and that the first stroke in the character is "丨" (竖shu4 Vertical).
2. The next step is to go to the Stroke Count Character Look-up Index 笔画检字表 and find the 5画 (5-stroke) heading. All of the Chinese characters that contain exactly 5 strokes will be listed here.
3. The next step is to identify the first stroke of the character. Since the first stroke of the 电 character is "丨", we should then look for the subheading [丨] beneath the 5画 (5-stroke) heading. The first stroke of all the characters listed beneath this subheading will be "丨" (竖shu4 Vertical).
4. The next step is to visually scan the characters under the subheading [丨] looking for the 电 character. It can be seen in the Stroke Count Character Look-up Index 笔画检字表 that the 电 character is the 15th character down in the list. The number to the right of the character is "76" which indicates the character's definition is listed on page 76 of the dictionary in use. If the reader turns to page 76 of the dictionary in use, he/she will find the definition of the character 电.
Notes about the Total Stroke Count Method:
It should be noted that the Total Stroke Count Method is a very reliable way to find characters in a dictionary. However, it is also a very slow method because it requires the reader to count every stroke in the character that he/she wishes to look-up. Furthermore, not all dictionaries will supply a Stroke Count Character Look-up Index 笔画检字表. So even if the reader knows the total stroke count of a character, it will still be impossible to find the character in the dictionary because the index does not exist.
4. The Pinyin (Alphabetic) Method
The fourth and last way of looking-up characters in a dictionary is by using the character's pinyin. If by looking at a character, the reader is able to determine how to pronounce the character, then he/she can use the pinyin (the character's pronunciation) to directly find the character in the dictionary.
The characters in most Chinese dictionaries are arranged in pinyin alphabetical sequence. For example, if you want to look up the character 来 in the dictionary and you already know that it's pinyin (pronunciation) is lai2 (2nd tone), then you can turn the dictionary to the page where the "L" pinyin entries start. Next, find the place in the dictionary where the "lai2" (2nd tone) pinyin entries start and look for characters that are a match on 来. Once found, you will see that the definition of 来 lai2 is "to come".
Looking-up Independent Characters and Difficult To Look-up Characters 如何查独体字及难检字:
In the Chinese language, the Independent Characters 独体字 are by far the most difficult to look-up in a dictionary. Despite the fact that they are structurally simple in appearance and contain few strokes, their single-component nature gives one the impression that they have no clear and apparent radical, thus the radical is very hard to identify. We have already discussed that The First-Stroke Method and The Total Stroke Count Method can be used to look-up these kinds of characters.
There is yet another category of characters which the Chinese language classifies as "difficult to look-up". These characters have an appearance that makes it difficult to classify which Character Structure 字的结构 they belong to. This is due to the fact that they sometimes have a large number of strokes lending them a very "dense" appearance. These characters are called Difficult To Look-up Characters 难检字.
Sometimes dictionaries will provide what is called a Difficult to Look-up Characters Index 难检字表. This index will contain both Independent Characters 独体字and Difficult To Look-up Characters 难检字 and is sorted by stroke count. In the event you need to look-up an Independent or Difficult to Look-up Character, you can utilize this index in the same way you would look-up characters using the Total Stroke Count Method: count the total number of strokes in the character and then go to the appropriate heading in the Difficult to Look-up Characters Index 难检字表 to find the character.
Difficult To Look-up Character Index 难检字表:
Please click on this link to view the Difficult To Look-up Character Index 笔画检字表 and it's explanation.
Summary:
In the beginning, the process of looking up Chinese characters in a dictionary tends to be slow and cumbersome. However, over time, if you frequently look-up characters you will discover that you will acquire a feeling for which components are radicals, thereby greatly speeding up the look-up process.
V. Stroke Order Rules And Counting Strokes 笔顺规则与笔画数:
A knowledge of Chinese character Stroke Order Rules is a prerequisite to being able to count the strokes in a Chinese character and being able to look-up characters in a dictionary. In addition, this knowledge is important to being able to write Chinese characters using proper stroke order.
Before attempting to study Stroke Order Rules, you should first become familiar with the various types of strokes and character structures. Please read the following sections in this page before proceeding further: Basic Strokes 基本笔画, Dependent Strokes 依附笔画, Compound Strokes 复合笔画 and Character Structure 字的结构.
The Eight 'Stroke Order' Rules 笔顺规则:
As a general rule, Chinese characters tend to be written from left to right, horizontal to vertical, top to bottom and outer to inner. There are eight basic rules that must be followed when writing Chinese characters: (The examples provided here are just a cursory introduction. For a more precise and detailed explanation of stroke order rules broken down by structure type, please refer to this section:
The Relationship Between Character Structure and Stroke Order 字的结构与笔顺的关系:)
1. The strokes on the left are written before the strokes on the right
Examples:
八ba1 - Stroke order: left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, right 捺na4 Right-Falling
Total Stroke Count: 2
木mu4 - Stroke order: top 横heng2 Horizontal, center 竖shu4 Vertical, left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, last is
right 捺na4 Right-Falling
Total Stroke Count: 4
2. 丿(撇pie3 Left-Falling) is written before \ (捺na4 Right-Falling) - When the left-falling and right-falling
strokes meet or cross each other, first write the left-falling then write the right-falling.
Examples:
人ren2 - Stroke order: left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, right 捺na4 Right-Falling
Total Stroke Count: 2
文wen2 - Stroke order: top 点dian3 Dot, top 横heng2 Horizontal, left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, last is right
捺na4 Right-Falling
Total Stroke Count: 4
3. 一 (横heng2 Horizontal) is written before 丨(竖shu4 Vertical) - First write the horizontal strokes, then
the vertical strokes.
Examples:
十shi2 - Stroke order: middle 横heng2 Horizontal, center 竖shu4 Vertical
Total Stroke Count: 2
丰feng1 - Stroke order: top 横heng2 Horizontal, middle 横heng2 Horizontal, bottom 横heng2
Horizontal, last is center 竖shu4 Vertical
Total Stroke Count: 4
4. The upper strokes should be written before the lower strokes in a movement from top to bottom.
Examples:
三san1 - Stroke order: top 横heng2 Horizontal, middle 横heng2 Horizontal, last is lower 横heng2
Horizontal
Total Stroke Count: 3
土tu3 - Stroke order: top 横heng2 Horizontal, center 竖shu4 Vertical, last is bottom 横heng2
Horizontal
Total Stroke Count: 3
5. When a character is enclosed on all sides, you should write the character according to these three
rules:
a. from left to right write the two enclosing strokes - left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折heng2zhe2
Horizontal Bend
b. then write the inner enclosed portion of the character
c. last, write the bottom 横heng2 Horizontal
Examples:
因yin1 - Stroke order: left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend, inner portion
(3 strokes): center 横heng2 Horizontal, left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, right 捺na4
Right-Falling, last is the bottom 横heng2 Horizontal
Total Stroke Count: 6
田tian2 - Stroke order: left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend, inner portion
(2 strokes): center 横heng2 Horizontal, center 竖shu4 Vertical, last is the
bottom 横heng2 Horizontal
Total Stroke Count: 5
6. When a character is enclosed on two or three sides, the character should be written from the outer to inner according to these two rules:
a. If the character is enclosed from the upper end, first write the enclosing strokes and then write
the enclosed strokes.
The following three structures (Character Structure 字的结构) enclose a character
from the upper end, so rule 6a. applies to them:
1. 左上包围结构zuo3shang4bao1wei2jie2gou4 - Upper-left enclosure ie. 厅ting1
2. 右上包围结构you4shang4bao1wei2jie2gou4 - Upper-right enclosure ie. 习xi2
3. 左上右包围结构zuo3shang4you4bao1wei2jie2gou4 - Left-top-right enclosure ie. 月yue4
Examples:
月yue4 is a Left-top-right enclosure structure
Stroke order: left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, top 横折钩heng2zhe2gou1 Horizontal Bend Hook,
top 横heng2 Horizontal, last is the bottom 横heng2 Horizontal
Total Stroke Count: 4
b. If the character is enclosed from the lower end, first write the enclosed strokes and then write the
enclosing strokes.
The following two structures enclose a character from the lower end, so rule 6b. applies to them:
1. 左下包围结构zuo3xia4bao1wei2jie2gou4 - Lower-left enclosure ie. 这zhe4
2. 左下右包围结构zuo3xia4you4bao1wei2jie2gou4 - Left-bottom-right enclosure ie. 画hua4
Examples:
画hua4 is a Left-bottom-right enclosure structure
Stroke order: top-enclosure 横heng2 Horizontal, inner 田 has 5 strokes: inner-left 竖shu4
Vertical, inner-top 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend, inner 横heng2
Horizontal, inner 竖shu4 Vertical, inner-bottom 横heng2 Horizontal, bottom-
enclosure has 2 strokes: bottom 竖折shu4zhe2 Vertical Bend, last is the
right 竖shu4 Vertical
Total Stroke Count: 8
c. If the character is enclosed from the top, left and bottom sides, first write the top enclosing stroke,
then the enclosed strokes, and finally the remaining left and bottom enclosing strokes.
Rule 6c. applies to the 上左下包围结构shang4zuo3xia4bao1wei2jie2gou4 - Top-left-bottom
enclosure structure.
Examples:
区qu1 is a Top-left-bottom enclosure structure
Stroke order: top-enclosure 横heng2 Horizontal, inner-left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, inner-right
捺na4 Right-Falling, bottom-enclosure 竖折shu4zhe2 Vertical Bend
Total Stroke Count: 4
7. Sometimes the middle portion of a character should be written before the outer side portions.
When a vertical stroke is in a middle and prominent position within the character, does not cross
other strokes yet may join others, then that vertical stroke should be written first.
Examples:
小xiao3 - Stroke order: center 竖钩shu4gou1 Vertical Hook, left-side 左点zuo3dian3 Left-Falling
Dot, last is the right-side 长点 chang2dian3 Long Dot
Total Stroke Count: 3
业ye4 - Stroke order: left-center 竖shu4 Vertical, right-center 竖shu4 Vertical, left-side 点dian3 Dot,
right-side 左点 zuo3dian3 Left-Falling Dot, last is the bottom 横heng2
Horizontal
Total Stroke Count: 5
8. Sometimes the middle portion of a character should be written last.
When a vertical stroke is in a middle and prominent position within the character and crosses other
strokes, it should be written last.
Examples:
中zhong1 - Stroke order: left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend, bottom 横heng2
Horizontal, last is the center 竖shu4 Vertical
Total Stroke Count: 4
Exceptions to the above eight stroke order rules:
1. Exception to Stroke Order Rule 3: If the 竖shu4 Vertical stroke is to the left of the 横heng2
Horizontal stroke, then the vertical stroke should be written before the horizontal stroke.
Examples:
上shang4 - Stroke order: center 竖shu4 Vertical, right 横heng2 Horizontal, last is the bottom 横
heng2 Horizontal
Total Stroke Count: 3
2. Exception to Stroke Order Rule 3: If the 横heng2 Horizontal stroke is in the middle of the character
and occupies a prominent position, then the horizontal stroke should be written last.
Examples:
子zi3 - Stroke order: top 横钩heng2gou1 Horizontal Hook, center 竖钩shu4gou1 Vertical Hook,
last is the center 横 heng2 Horizontal
Total Stroke Count: 3
VI. The Relationship Between Character Structure and Stroke Order 字的结构与笔顺的关系:
When trying to determine a character's stroke order, the first thing that should be done is to identify the character's structure. Once the structure has been identified, we can then begin to determine the character's stroke order. Referring back to the section entitled Character Structure 字的结构, we can apply the Stroke Order Rules to every type of character structure in that section. As you read through the following examples, observe how the stroke order of each character conforms to the Stroke Order Rules. Notice how you begin to get a feeling and comprehension for the way in which the strokes of a character are arranged into a particular stroke order.
For each of the following examples, the "Stroke order" column provides the location of the stroke within the character as well as the stroke's Chinese and English name. The total "Stroke count" for each character is also given. If the character contains more than one component, each component (for simplicity, referred to in these examples as "pieces") will be shown separately (when possible for it to be entered via keyboard) along with it's accompanying stroke order and stroke count.
Independent Character Structure 独体字的结构:
Of all the structures, the Independent Character structure is the simplest in construction. Unlike the Compound-Component structures, it is not divided into pieces and the inside character is comprised of just one component.
Examples:
书shu1 - Stroke order: top 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend, lower 横折钩 heng2zhe2gou1
Horizontal Bend Hook, center 竖钩shu4 Vertical, last is the 点dian3 Dot
Total Stroke Count: 4
也ye3 - Stroke order: center 横折钩heng2zhe2gou1 Horizontal Bend Hook, center 竖shu4 Vertical,
last is the 竖弯钩 shu4wan1gou1 Vertical Curve Hook
Total Stroke Count: 3
电dian4 - Stroke order: left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend, center 横 heng2
Horizontal, bottom 横 heng2 Horizontal, last is the 竖弯钩 shu4wan1gou1
Vertical Curve Hook
Total Stroke Count: 5
Compound-Component Character Structures 合体字的结构:
1. The Left-Right Structures 左右结构
These structures are divided vertically into two pieces, a left and a right. The left piece should be written first, the right piece should be written last. There are five kinds of Left-Right Structures 左右结构.
a. Left-small Right-large 左窄右宽
In this structure, the left piece is smaller than the right piece.
Examples:
你ni3 - Stroke order: Left piece 亻: left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, center 竖shu4 Vertical
Stroke Count: 2
Right piece 尔: left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, top 横钩 heng2gou1 Horizontal Hook,
Bend Hook, center 竖钩shu4gou1 Vertical Hook, lower-left
左点zuo3dian3 Left-Falling Dot, last is the lower-right 长点
chang2dian3 Long Dot
Stroke Count: 5
Total Stroke Count: 7
汉han4 - Stroke order: Left piece 氵: top 点dian3 Dot, middle 点dian3 Dot, bottom 提ti2 Lift
Stroke Count: 3
Right piece 又: left 横撇heng2pie3 Horizontal Left-Falling, last is the right
捺na4 Right-Falling
Stroke Count: 2
Total Stroke Count: 5
的de - Stroke order: Left piece 白: top 点dian3 Dot, left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折heng2zhe2
Horizontal Bend, center 横heng2 Horizontal, bottom 横heng2
Horizontal
Stroke Count: 5
Right piece 勺: left-top 撇pie3 Left-Falling, right 横折钩 heng2zhe2gou1
Horizontal Bend Hook, last is the 点dian3 Dot
Stroke Count: 3
Total Stroke Count: 8
b. Equal left and right 左右相等
In this structure, the left piece and the right piece are equal in size.
Examples:
以yi3 - Stroke order: Left piece: left 竖提shu4ti2 Vertical Lift, middle 点dian3 Dot
Stroke Count: 2
Right piece: left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, last is the lower-right 长点 chang2dian3
Long Dot
Stroke Count: 2
Total Stroke Count: 4
c. Left-large Right-small 左宽右窄
In this structure, the left piece is larger than the right piece.
Examples:
外wai4 - Stroke order: Left piece 夕: left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, right 横撇heng2pie3 Horizontal Left-
Falling, last is the center 点dian3 Dot
Stroke Count: 3
Right piece 卜: left 竖shu4 Vertical, last is the right 点dian3 Dot
Stroke Count: 2
Total Stroke Count: 5
刻ke4 - Stroke order: Left piece: top 点dian3 Dot, top 横heng Horizontal, middle 撇折pie3zhe2
Left-Falling Bend, middle-lower 撇pie3 Left-Falling, left 撇pie3
Left-Falling, last is the lower-right 长点 chang2dian3 Long Dot
Stroke Count: 6
Right piece 刂 : left 竖shu4 Vertical, last is the right 竖钩shu4gou1 Vertical
Hook
Stroke Count: 2
Total Stroke Count: 8
d. Left-large Right-up and down 左边和右上右下
In this structure, the left side contains one piece and the right side is divided equally into a top
and bottom piece.
Examples:
够gou4 - Stroke order: Left piece 句: top 撇pie3 Left-Falling, right 横折钩 heng2zhe2gou1
Horizontal Bend Hook, center (3 strokes): left 竖shu4
Vertical, top 横折 heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend, bottom 横
heng2 Horizontal
Stroke Count: 5
Right-upper piece 夕: left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, right 横撇heng2pie3
Horizontal Left-Falling, last is the center 点dian3
Dot
Stroke Count: 3
Right-lower piece 夕: left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, right 横撇heng2pie3
Horizontal Left-Falling, last is the center 点dian3
Dot
Stroke Count: 3
Total Stroke Count: 11
d. Left-up and down Right-large 左上左下和右边
In this structure, the right side contains one piece and the left side is divided equally into a top
and bottom piece.
Examples:
都dou1 - Stroke order: Left-upper piece: top 横heng2 Horizontal, center 竖shu4 Vertical, bottom
横heng2 Horizontal, last is bottom 撇pie3 Left-Falling
Stroke Count: 4
Left-lower piece 日: left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折heng2zhe2
Horizontal Bend, center 横heng2 Horizontal, bottom
横heng2 Horizontal
Stroke Count: 4
Right piece 阝: right 横撇弯钩heng2pie3wan1gou1 Horizontal Left-Falling
Curve Hook, last is 竖shu4 Vertical
Stroke Count: 2
Total Stroke Count: 10
2. The Top-Bottom Structures 上下结构
These structures are divided horizontally into two pieces, a top and a bottom. The top piece should be written first, the bottom piece should be written last. There are five kinds of Top-Bottom Structures 上下结构:
a. Top-short Bottom-long 上短下长:
In this structure, the top piece is shorter(smaller) than the bottom piece.
Examples:
字zi4 - Stroke order: Top piece 宀: top 点dian3 Dot, left 左点zuo3dian3 Left-Falling Dot,
right 横钩heng2gou1 Horizontal Hook
Stroke Count: 3
Bottom piece 子: top 横钩heng2gou1 Horizontal Hook, center 竖钩
shu4gou1 Vertical Hook, last is the center 横heng2
Horizontal
Stroke Count: 3
Total Stroke Count: 6
写xie3 - Stroke order: Top piece 冖: left 左点zuo3dian3 Left-Falling Dot, right 横钩heng2gou1
Horizontal Hook
Stroke Count: 2
Bottom piece 与: top 横heng2 Horizontal, middle 竖折折钩
shu4zhe2zhe2gou1 Vertical Bend Bend Hook, last is
the center 横heng2 Horizontal
Stroke Count: 3
Total Stroke Count: 5
b. Equal top and bottom 上下相等:
In this structure, the top and bottom pieces are equal in size.
Examples:
是shi4 - Stroke order: Top piece 曰: left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend,
center 横heng2 Horizontal, last is the bottom 横 heng2
Horizontal
Stroke Count: 4
Bottom piece 疋: top 横heng2 Horizontal, middle 竖shu4 Vertical, middle
横heng2 Horizontal, left-bottom 撇pie3 Left-Falling, last
is the 捺na4 Right-Falling
Stroke Count: 5
Total Stroke Count: 9
c. Top-long Bottom-short 上长下短
In this structure, the top piece is longer (bigger) than the bottom piece.
Examples:
点dian3 - Stroke order: Top piece 占: top 竖shu4 Vertical, middle 横heng2 Horizontal, left 竖
shu4 Vertical, middle 横折 heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend,
bottom 横 heng2 Horizontal
Stroke Count: 5
Bottom piece 灬: left 左点zuo3dian3 Left-Falling Dot, middle 点dian3
Dot, middle 点dian3 Dot, 长点chang2dian3 Long Dot
Stroke Count: 4
Total Stroke Count: 9
息xi1 - Stroke order: Top piece 自: top 点dian3 Dot, left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折heng2zhe2
Horizontal Bend, center 横heng2 Horizontal, center-bottom 横
heng2 Horizontal, bottom 横heng2 Horizontal
Stroke Count: 6
Bottom piece 心: left 左点zuo3dian3 Left-Falling Dot, middle 卧钩wo2gou1
Lying Hook, middle 点dian3 Dot, right 点dian3 Dot
Stroke Count: 4
Total Stroke Count: 10
d. Top-two Bottom-large 左上右上和下边
In this structure, the bottom contains one piece and the top is divided equally into a left and right
piece.
些xie1 - Stroke order: Top-left piece 止: right 竖shu4 Vertical, middle 横heng2 Horizontal, left 竖
shu4 Vertical, last is bottom 提ti2 Vertical Lift
Stroke Count: 4
Top-right piece 匕 : right 左点zuo3dian3 Left-Falling Dot , last is the
竖弯钩shu4wan1gou1 Vertical Curve Hook
Stroke Count: 2
Bottom piece 二: top 横heng2 Horizontal, bottom 横heng2 Horizontal
Stroke Count: 2
Total Stroke Count: 8
e. Top-large Bottom-two 上边和左下右下:
In this structure, the top contains one piece and the bottom is divided equally into a left and right
piece.
最zui4 - Stroke order: Top piece 曰: left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend,
center 横heng2 Horizontal, last is the bottom 横heng2
Horizontal
Stroke Count: 4
Bottom-left piece 耳: top 横heng2 Horizontal, left 竖shu4 Vertical, right 竖
shu4 Vertical, middle 横heng2 Horizontal, middle 横
heng2 Horizontal, last is bottom 提ti2 Vertical Lift
Stroke Count: 6
Bottom-left piece 又: left 横撇heng2pie3 Horizontal Left-Falling, last is the
right 捺na4 Right-Falling
Stroke Count: 2
Total Stroke Count: 12
3. The Two-side Enclosure Structures 两面包围结构
These structures are divided diagonally into two pieces, a top and a bottom which gives the appearance that there is an "inside" portion/piece of the character being enclosed on two sides by an enclosing "outside" portion/piece of the character. The rules for which piece should be written first will depend on the type of structure you are dealing with and are explained below for each respective structure. There are 3 kinds of Two-side Enclosure Structures:
a. Upper-left enclosure 左上包围结构
In this structure, the enclosing piece is in the upper-left part of the structure and should be written
first. The enclosed piece is in the lower-right part of the structure and should be written last. The
stroke order is dictated by Stroke Order Rule 6a.
Examples:
厅ting1 - Stroke order: Upper-left piece 厂: top 横heng2 Horizontal, right 撇pie3 Left-Falling
Stroke count: 2
Lower-right piece 丁: top 横heng2 Horizontal, center 竖钩shu4gou1
Vertical Hook
Stroke count: 2
Total Stroke Count: 4
应ying1 - Stroke order: Upper-left piece 广: top 点dian3 Dot, top 横heng2 Horizontal, last is the
right 撇pie3 Left-Falling
Stroke count: 3
Lower-right piece: left 长点chang2dian3 Long Dot, middle 长点
chang2dian3 Long Dot, right 左点zuo3dian3 Left-
Falling Dot, last is the bottom 横heng2 Horizontal
Stroke count: 4
Total Stroke Count: 7
b. Upper-right enclosure 右上包围结构
In this structure, the enclosing piece is in the upper-right part of the structure and should be
written first. The enclosed piece is in the lower-left part of the structure and should be written
last. The stroke order is dictated by Stroke Order Rule 6a.
Examples:
习xi2 - Stroke order: Upper-right piece : top 横折钩heng2zhe2gou1 Horizontal Bend Hook
Stroke count: 1
Lower-left piece: top 点dian3 Dot, bottom 提ti2 Vertical Lift
Stroke count: 2
Total Stroke Count: 3
可ke3 - Stroke order: Upper-right piece : top 横heng2 Horizontal, 竖钩shu4gou1 Vertical Hook
Stroke count: 2
Lower-left piece 口: left 竖shu4 Vertical, middle 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal
Bend, last is bottom 横heng2 Horizontal
Stroke count: 3
Total Stroke Count: 5
c. Lower-left enclosure 左下包围结构
In this structure, the enclosed piece is in the upper-right part of the structure and should be
written first. The enclosing piece is in the lower-left part of the structure and should be written
last. The stroke order is dictated by Stroke Order Rule 6b.
Examples:
这zhe4 - Stroke order: Upper-right piece 文: top 点dian3 Dot, top 横heng2 Horizontal, left 撇pie3
Left-Falling, last is right 捺na4 Right-Falling
Stroke count: 4
Lower-left piece 辶: top 点dian3 Dot, middle 横折折折heng2zhe2zhe2zhe2
Horizontal Bend Bend Bend, last is bottom 平捺
ping2na4 Flattened Right-Falling
Stroke count: 3
Total Stroke Count: 7
建jian4 - Stroke order: Upper-right piece: top 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend, middle 横heng2
Horizontal, closing bottom 横heng2 Horizontal, lower-
bottom 横heng2 Horizontal, most-bottom 横heng2
Horizontal, last is the 竖 shu4 Vertical Curve Hook
Stroke count: 6
Lower-left piece 廴: left 横折折撇heng2zhe2zhe2pie3 Horizontal Bend Bend
Left-Falling, last is bottom 平捺ping2na4 Flattened
Right-Falling
Stroke count: 2
Total Stroke Count: 8
4. The Three-side Enclosure Structures 三面包围结构
These structures are divided horizontally/vertically into two pieces. The outer/enclosing piece surrounds the inner/enclosed piece on three sides. The rules for which piece should be written first will depend on the type of structure you are dealing with and are explained below for each respective structure. There are 3 kinds of Three-side Enclosure Structures:
a. Left-top-right enclosure 左上右包围结构
In this structure, the enclosing piece is in the upper part of the structure and should be written
first, the enclosed piece is in the lower part of the structure and should be written last. The stroke
order is dictated by Stroke Order Rule 6a.
Examples:
风feng1 - Stroke order: Upper piece 几: left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, top 横弯钩heng2wan1gou1
Horizontal Curve Hook
Stroke count: 2
Lower piece 乂: left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, right 捺na4 Right-Falling
Stroke count: 2
Total Stroke Count: 4
同tong2 - Stroke order: Upper piece 冂: left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折钩heng2zhe2gou1
Horizontal Bend Hook
Stroke count: 2
Lower piece: top 横heng2 Horizontal, left 竖shu4 Vertical, middle 横折
heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend, last is bottom 横heng2
Horizontal
Stroke count: 4
Total Stroke Count: 6
b. Top-left-bottom enclosure 上左下包围结构
In this structure, the enclosing piece surrounds the enclosed piece on the top, left and bottom
sides. The top enclosing piece should be written first, then the enclosed piece and last the left
and bottom enclosing piece. The stroke order is dictated by Stroke Order Rule 6c.
Examples:
医yi1 - Stroke order: Upper enclosing piece 一: top 横heng2 Horizontal
Stroke count: 1
Middle enclosed piece: left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, top 横heng2 Horizontal,
middle 横heng2 Horizontal, left 撇pie3 Left-Falling,
last is right 捺na4 Right-Falling
Stroke count: 5
Lower enclosing piece ∟: 竖折shu4zhe2 Vertical Bend
Stroke count: 1
Total Stroke Count: 7
区qu1 - Stroke order: Upper enclosing piece 一: top 横heng2 Horizontal
Stroke count: 1
Middle enclosed piece 乂: left 撇pie3 Left-Falling, right 捺na4 Right-Falling
Stroke count: 2
Lower enclosing piece ∟: 竖折shu4zhe2 Vertical Bend
Stroke count: 1
Total Stroke Count: 4
c. Left-bottom-right enclosure 左下右包围结构
In this structure, the enclosed piece is in the top part of the structure and should be written first.
The enclosing piece is in the bottom part of the structure and should be written last. The stroke
order is dictated by Stroke Order Rule 6b.
Examples:
画hua4 - Stroke order: Upper piece: top 横heng2 Horizontal, inner 田 has 5 strokes: inner-left 竖
shu4 Vertical, inner-top 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend,
inner-middle 横heng2 Horizontal, inner-middle 竖shu4
Vertical, last is the inner-bottom 横heng2 Horizontal
Stroke count: 6
Lower piece 凵: bottom 竖折shu4zhe2 Vertical Bend, right 竖shu4 Vertical
Stroke count: 2
Total Stroke Count: 8
5. The Complete Enclosure Structures全包围结构
These structures are divided into two pieces: an inner piece and an outer surrounding piece. The outer piece completely surrounds the inner piece on four sides. The left, top and right side of the outer surrounding piece are written first, then the inner piece, then last the bottom outer surrounding piece. The stroke order is dictated by Stroke Order Rule 5. There are 2 kinds of Complete Enclosure Structures:
a. Four-side enclosure with internal independent component 四面包围内部呈独体结构
In this structure, the enclosed piece is composed of just one component.
Examples:
因yin1 - Stroke order: 3-side enclosure 冂: left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal
Bend
Stroke count: 2
Enclosed piece 大: center 横heng2 Horizontal, left 撇pie3 Left-Falling,
right 捺 na4 Right-Falling
Stroke count: 3
Bottom enclosure 一: bottom 横heng2 Horizontal
Stroke count: 1
Total Stroke Count: 6
国guo2 - Stroke order: 3-side enclosure 冂: left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal
Bend
Stroke count: 2
Enclosed piece 玉: top 横heng2 Horizontal, middle 横heng2 Horizontal,
center 竖shu4 Vertical, bottom 横heng2 Horizontal, last
is bottom-right 点dian3 Dot
Stroke count: 5
Bottom enclosure 一: bottom 横heng2 Horizontal
Stroke count: 1
Total Stroke Count: 8
b. Four-side enclosure with internal upper and lower component 四面包围内部呈上下结构
In this structure, the enclosed piece is composed of two components.
Examples:
圆yuan2 - Stroke order: 3-side enclosure 冂: left 竖shu4 Vertical, top 横折heng2zhe2 Horizontal
Bend
Stroke count: 2
Enclosed upper-piece 口: left 竖shu4 Vertical, middle 横折heng2zhe2
Horizontal Bend, last is bottom 横heng2
Horizontal
Stroke count: 3
Enclosed lower-piece 贝: left 竖shu4 Vertical, middle 横折
heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend, left 撇pie3 Left-
Falling, right 捺 Right-Falling
Stroke count: 4
Bottom enclosure 一: bottom 横heng2 Horizontal
Stroke count: 1
Total Stroke Count: 10
VII. Counting Strokes 笔画数:
Once you are able to:
1. Identify the unique strokes of a character Basic Strokes 基本笔画, Dependent Strokes 依附笔画 andCompound Strokes 复合笔画
and...
2. According to a character's Character Structure 字的结构 determine the order that the strokes should be written (Stroke Order Rules 笔顺规则)
...then, the process of counting strokes becomes just a matter of keeping a mental counter in your mind. As you analyze a character and traverse through it's sequence of strokes, you add "1" to this counter for every new stroke encountered. When you have traversed through all of the strokes, the final count will be the total stroke count for the character. As you get more familiar with the various types of strokes, character structures and stroke order rules, it will become quite easy to calculate stroke count.
VIII. Classifying Characters 构字方法:
According to a character's respective appearance, Chinese characters can be classified into four categories: Pictophonetic (shape-sound) 形声字, Graphic (pictographic/hieroglyphic) 形象字, Indicative 指示字 and Associative 会意字.
1. Pictophonetic (shape-sound) Characters 形声字
As previously discussed, Chinese characters are composed of components and one of the most significant components is the Radical 部首 which serves the critical function of looking characters up in a dictionary. In the case of Pictophonetic characters, their internal components serve an additional function, and that is to provide character meaning and character pronunciation information to the reader. In the Chinese language, most characters are of the Pictophonetic type.
A Pictophonetic character contains two kinds of components: the Shape (picto) Radical 形旁 and the Sound (phonetic) Radical 声旁. Taken together, these two radicals provide a good deal of information about the character. In the case of the Shape Radical, it's shape, via visual association with real-world concrete objects provides the reader with an approximate meaning of the character. In the case of the Sound Radical, each radical has an associated pronunciation which provides the reader with an approximate pronunciation of the character. This information is very useful, because when encountering an unrecognized character, if the reader can identify the shape and sound radicals within the character, then he/she will have a general idea of the character's definition and pronunciation, respectively.
In terms of identifying which are the shape and sound radicals within a character, the following rule can be used:
Rule:
- Radicals that are fewer in strokes are usually Shape Radicals 形旁
- Radicals that are more numerous in strokes are usually Sound Radicals 声旁
The following two indexes can be used as a look-up tool to help you identify which radicals in a character are Shape Radicals 形旁 and which are Sound Radicals 声旁:
Shape Radical Index 形旁总表:
Please click on this link to view the Shape Radical Index 形旁总表 and it's explanation.
Sound Radical Index 声旁总表:
Please click on this link to view the Sound Radical Index 声旁总表 and it's explanation.
The below examples will further illustrate the difference between shape and sound radicals:
Example:
睛:
In this character, there are 2 components, 目and 青. The simplest of the two components is 目,
so we look this component up in the Shape Radical Index 形旁总表. In this index we find
that 目is the 目字 旁mu4zi4pang2 radical and has a meaning of "eyes". Next we look up 青 in
the Sound Radical Index 声旁总表 . We find that 青 has two possible pronunciations qing and
jing.
Earlier I said that the shape and sound radicals will provide the reader with approximate
meanings and pronunciation, respectively. You can think of the shape and sound radicals
as providing you with hint or reminder information about the respective character. If we look-up
睛 in a dictionary using the Radical Look-up Method, we would use 目as the 部首bu4shou3
radical and would discover that it's pronunciation is "jing1" and it's meaning is "eyeball".
Through this example, we can see that the meaning information of "eyes" provided through the
shape radical 目and the sound information of "qing / jing" provided through the sound radical 青
qing1 was relatively close to 睛's meaning of "eyeball" and pronunciation of "jing1" that we
gleened through using the Radical Look-up Method. It's also important to remember that the
sound radical will never provide the pronunciation tone, it will only provide the Initial (consonant)
声母sheng1mu3 and Final (vowel) 韵母yun4mu3 (see Chinese Pronunciation for an explanation
of Initial (consonant) 声母sheng1mu3 and Final (vowel) 韵母 yun4mu3).
In real life during communication with people or reading documents, if you encounter an unrecognized character, sometimes a simple reminder is all you will need in order to recall the exact meaning and definition. Even more so, if you still can't recall the precise meaning and definition, the shape and sound radicals will provide you with enough information so that you can make an intelligent guess. Identifying shape and sound radicals within a character is a good strategy for acquiring a strong
proficiency with Chinese characters.
One final example:
Example:
清:
"氵" 三点水san1dian3shui3 is the shape radical and has a meaning of "water".
"青" is the sound radical and has a pronunciation of qing /jing.
The exact definition is "clear" and the exact pronunciation is "qing1".
Clarifying the term "radical":
" 偏旁 pian1pang2 radical and 部首 bu4shou3 radical " vs. " component 部分 bu4fen ":
When discussing Chinese characters, the Chinese word 部分bu4fen is translated to the English word "Component", which roughly means part - a part of a character. However, the Chinese words 偏旁pian1pang2 and 部首bu4shou3 both translate to the same English word - "Radical". One way to clarify the confusion is to consider that " 部首bu4shou3 radicals " are those radicals which are used to look-up characters in dictionary. On the other hand, " 偏旁pian1pang2 radicals " are not used for dictionary look-up, but they may be used for other purposes such as serving as Shape Radicals 形旁and Sound Radicals 声旁. When a component in a character is neither a " 部首bu4shou3 radical " or a " 偏旁pian1pang2 radical ", we can just simply call this component a 部分bu4fen Component.
2. Graphic Characters 形象字
Graphic characters 形象字 are pictographic/hieroglyphic type characters which by appearance have a resemblance to the concrete object or action they indicate. These characters are representations of things identified early on by the ancient Chinese. Although these kinds of characters may also be radicals themselves, they are identifed here as being Graphic characters.
Examples:
马 ma3 - definition: "horse", the square portion is the body, the lower-right line are the legs
and the lower-left horizontal line is the tail.
鸟 niao3 - definition: "bird", the square portion is the body, the top dot is a feather, the middle dot
is the eye, the lower-left horizontal line is the tail.
伞 san3 - definition: "umbrella", the upper portion is the spread of the umbrella, the under portion
is the umbrella's supporting framework, the lower vertical line is the handle used to hold
the umbrella.
网 wang3 - definition: "net", the two inside crosses represent the webbing of a net.
哭 ku1 - definition: "cry", the two squares represent a person's eyes, the dot is a teardrop, the
lower portion represents a person's face and mouth.
笑 xiao4 - definition: "smile" the upper portion is similar to the shape of a person's eyes when
they are smiling. The lower portion represents their face.
3. Indicative Characters 指示字
While the pictures in Graphic characters tend to represent concrete things. Indicative characters represent things that are more abstract in meaning, things that can't be expressed by pictographs. Indicative characters point-out and "indicate" something.
Examples:
上 shang4 - a vertical line pointing to the top which indicates "above"
下 xia4 - a vertical line pointing to the bottom which indicates "below"
本 ben3 - 木mu4 is the character for wood, when the lower short horizontal line is added to the
bottom it means "root", which over time, has come to mean "the essence" of
something.
4. Associative Characters 会意字
Associative characters are those characters which upon looking at them causes you to think of a meaning for the character. These characters tend to have two or more pictographs placed side-by-side to describe an action or an abstract concept.
Examples:
休 xiu1 - definition: "to rest", is represented by a person 人ren2 next to or leaning against a
tree 木 mu4.
忍 ren3 - definition: "endure", is represented by a knife 刀dao1 over the heart 心xin1 which gives
a feeling of endurance, the heart bearing and enduring difficulty.
从 cong2 - definition: "to follow", is represented by a one person 人ren2 following another person
人ren2.
IX. How To Write Chinese Characters 入门学习写汉字:
The subject of how to teach the writing of Chinese characters is a controversial one. Nevertheless, most people do agree that before even attempting to write a Chinese character, a student must first have an adequate knowledge of strokes.
I. First Step - Practice the Strokes:
I recommend to first practice writing all of the Basic 基本笔画, Dependent 依附笔画 and Compound 复合笔画 strokes explained earlier in this webpage. When practicing these strokes, it's important that the student write the stroke in a both a balanced and symmetrical way. When children in China first begin to learn writing characters, they practice their writing in a special exercise book called a 小楷本 (xiao3 kai3 ben3). The pages of these exercise books are specially ruled into numerous small squares or blocks. These squares give the student a fixed area in which to write the character. By practicing their writing in these books, over time the students are able to write the characters in a balanced and symmetrical way. Shown below is an example of one of these exercise books.
小楷本exercise book cover: square-ruled page:
(these exercise books can be bought at any school supply store in China)
Practicing strokes should be done everyday for at least a couple of weeks. It's not necessary to practice for long periods of time at one stretch; the idea is to just get comfortable writing the various kinds of strokes. Proper technique is also important, particulary during the first stages of learning how to write characters. Stroke technique is important because it will later influence the legibility of your written characters. The strokes must be written in a correct fashion, so that later when you write characters, they can be read by others. If you don't have a teacher, then I highly recommend the book "Learn to Write Chinese Characters" by Johan Bjorksten.
"Learn to Write
Chinese Characters":
(For more information on this book, please refer to this web page Chinese Language Resources).
This book discusses and shows in detail the particulars of how to properly write Chinese characters. In particular, it shows& how to properly hold a pen in one's hand and how to write strokes. Once you are satisfied that you are comfortable writing the strokes, you can proceed to the second step: writing characters.
II. Second Step - Begin Writing Characters:
After the student feels comfortable writing all of the strokes, the next step is to begin writing characters. Before beginning to write characters, I recommend three very important tools: the first is a Chinese Character Frequency Index 常用字表, the second is the section in this webpage titled Analyzing a Character to Discover it's Attributes and the third is a Stroke Order Character Dictionary 笔顺字典.
1. Chinese Character Frequency List 常用字表:
A character frequency list is a machine computed list of the vocabulary (characters) that occurs with the greatest frequency within a given source of media. Frequency lists are often generated from newspapers, magazines, textbooks, etc. They are a very valuable tool for the beginning learner of Chinese. They provide the student with a basic vocabulary and a place from which to begin one's study. I have reproduced a list of the 500 most frequently occuring characters taken from the appendix of the book "Chinese-English Frequency Dictionary" by Yong Ho.
"Chinese-English
Frequency Dictionary"
(For more information on this book, please refer to this web page Chinese Language Resources).
In deciding which Chinese character to first practice writing, the method I recommend is to start with the first character in this frequency list. Please click on this link to view the Character Frequency List 常用字表. Once you have opened the Character Frequency List, you will see that the first character in the list is " 的 ". This will be the character we use to begin our character writing practice.
Now that we've decided which character we want to practice writing, the next step we need to perform is to determine how to write the character. Determining how to write a character requires the student to first analyze the character in order to discover it's attributes.
2. Analyzing a Character to Discover it's Attributes:
a. Determine the character type:
The first step in analyzing a character is to distinguish whether the character is an Independent Character 独体字 or a Compound Component Character 合体字. The way to make this distinction is to read the discussion of Character Structures 字的结构 in this webpage. Based on that discussion, we can then determine that the " 的 de character contains two components 部分, the left-side " 白 bai2 " and the right-side " 勺 shao2 " and so therefore is a Compound Component Character 合体字. ;
b. Determine the character structure:
Once you have made the character type distinction, the second step in analyzing a character is to determine which type of character structure the character itself belongs to. There are two basic types of character structures: Independent Character Structure 独体字的结构 and Compound-Component Character Structures 合体字的结构. If the character you want to write is an Independent Character 独体字, then by default it has an Independent Character Structure 独体字的结构. If the character is a Compound Component Character 合体字, it then also follows that the structure of the character is a Compound-Component Character Structure 合体字的结构. However, because there are many different kinds of Compound-Component Character Structures 合体字的结构, you must then further analyze various structures to determine which type of Compound Component Character Structure 合体字的结构 the character belongs. To make that determination, you must read the discussion of Compound Component Character Structures 合体字的结构 in this webpage.
Based on that discussion, we can then determine that the " 的 de " character has a Left-Right Structure 左右结果 (because of the left-side 白and the right-side 勺). Furthermore, we can also determine that it is aLeft-small Right-large structure 左窄右宽 because the left component (白) is smaller in proportion to the right component (勺).
To summarize up to this point, we have identified " 的 de " as the character we want to write and have also identified that " 的 de " is a Left-Right Structure 左右结果 (Compound-Component Character Structure 合体字的结构). The next step we need to do is to determine the first stroke of the character and the character's stroke order.
c. Determine the first stroke of the character and the stroke order:
Since Chinese characters are written using more than one stroke, we must first determine which stroke of the character should be written first and thereafter, we must determine the order in which the character's remaining strokes should be written. In order to determine which stroke is the first stroke of a character, we must understand the rules which govern stroke sequence, that is, we must understand the rules that determine the order in which the strokes of a character are written. For an explanation of these stroke order rules, please read the section titled Stroke Order Rules And Counting Strokes 笔顺规则与笔画数 in this webpage. However, please remember these are just basic rules and are not to be taken as fixed. Furthermore, the character's structure itself will also have a large influence on the stroke order. You should also read the section titled The Relationship Between Character Structure and Stroke Order 字的结构与笔顺的关系 for an explanation of how a character's structure affects it's stroke order.
In the case of the " 的 de " character, we know that it is a Left-Right Structure 左右结果 (Compound-Component Character Structure 合体字的结构) and the rules in the The Relationship Between Character Structure and Stroke Order 字的结构与笔顺的关系 section tell us that the left side of the character (白) is written first and the right side (勺) is written last.
Determining the first stroke of a character and a character's stroke order is not an exact science. It requires the student to be intimately familiar with Strokes 笔画, Character Structures 字的结构 and how strokes are combined to form Components 部分 (Radicals 部首). It requires the student to understand how components can be combined in various ways to form characters. There is just simply no easy way to reach a point of intimacy with Chinese characters other than writing repetition over a long period of time. However, there are resources that can make this task less daunting. One extremely helpful tool is called a Stroke Order Character Dictionary 笔顺字典.
3. Stroke Order Character Dictionary 笔顺字典:
Although the information contained on this webpage is helpful to a student who wants to understand Chinese characters, honestly, it is an impossible task and an unrealistic expectation to think that one could study this content and then be able to write Chinese characters. To reach a comfort level with Chinese characters requires a combination of both continuous study and practice, especially at the beginning of one's study. It's true, there is a logic and set of rules behind Chinese characters, but this logic and these rules cannot be all at once digested and implemented. It takes a period of several years, and as a result of continuous practice, the student slowly absorbs information and gradually obtains a comprehension.
I would like to recommend one very important tool that can make this process easier. This tool is called a Stroke Order Character Dictionary 笔顺字典. There are several kinds of these dictionaries available and the one I recommend most is "Chinese Character Dictionary" by Cheng and Tsui.
"Chinese Character
Dictionary"
(For more information on this book, please refer to this web page Chinese Language Resources).
Writing the strokes of a character
This book is an invaluable tool because it shows in a very clear form the most important attributes of any given character. The book contains entries for the most commonly used Chinese characters. Characters can be quickly and easily looked up using an alphabetized index. Shown below is how the book defines the attributes for the " 的 de " character.
" 的 de " character attributes:
Of the attributes displayed on this page, there are 6 which are most critical when writing characters.
a. Stroke Count 笔画数: This shows the total number of strokes contained in the character. In the above example, " 的 de " has 8 strokes indicated as " 8 画 ", which tells us that 8 strokes must be written in order to completely write this character.
b. Character Structure 字的结构: This tells the reader which type of structure the character is. In the above example, " 的 de " is a Compound Component Structure 合体字 indicated as " 合体字 ".
c. Radical 部首: This piece of information is not so critical to the writing of the character, but it does tell the reader that if the " 的 de " character is to be looked up in a dictionary, it can be located using the 白 (bai2) radical 部. For more information on how to look up characters in a dictionary, please click on this link.
d. Character Structure 字的结构: This shows the structure of the character. In this case, the " 的 de " character is a Left-small Right-large structure 左窄右宽; the left part of the structure (marked as "1") is smaller than the right side of the structure (marked as "2") shown in the diagram below:
character
structure:
e. Completed Character: This shows what the character should look like after it has been completely written out. The character is located in a square similar to that of those in the exercise books 小楷本 (xiao3 kai3 ben3) discussed earlier and shows the reader the character's proportions. In the case of the " 的 de " character, the 白 bai2 component is written on the left and the 勺 shao2 component is written on the right as shown below:
Completed
" 的 de " character:
f. Stroke Order 笔顺: This part of the dictionary entry is perhaps the most important. It shows the reader how to write the character in it's entirety, starting from the first stroke and ending with the last stroke. It shows the character appearing in successive stages. In the case of the " 的 de " character, because there are a total of 8 strokes in the character, there are thus 8 stages shown.
Stroke order 笔顺 for the " 的 de "
character shown in 8 successive
stages:
The dictionary entry shows that the " 的 de " character, moving from left to right should be written as
follows in 8 stages:
The left 白 component should be written as:
1. first, write the top 点 dian3 Dot stroke
2. second, write the left 竖 shu4 Vertical stroke
3. third, write the top 横折 heng2zhe2 Horizontal Bend stroke
4. fourth, write the center 横 heng2 Horizontal stroke
5. last, write the bottom 横 heng2 Horizontal stroke
There are a total of 5 strokes in the 白 component.
The right 勺 component should be written as:
1. first, write the left-top 撇 pie3 Left-Falling stroke
2. second, write the right 横折钩 heng2zhe2gou1 Horizontal Bend Hook stroke
3. last, write the the 点 dian3 Dot stroke
There are a total of 3 strokes in the 勺 component.
The total stroke count for the " 的 de " character is 8.
Summary:
In the beginning, the practice of writing characters is extremely tedious and slow. However, there is no other alternative. The Stroke Order Character Dictionary 笔顺字典 can make the task easier; because for every character you want to practice, you can first look the character up in the dictionary to understand how to write it. If you persist in using the dictionary, you will slowly but surely understand Chinese characters, particulary their strokes, stroke order and structures. You should also frequently come back to this webpage to reread the information on it. By doing this, you will over time acquire a solid and overall comprehension of characters and their attributes, rules, relationships, etc.
I also recommend continually using the Character Frequency Index 常用字表. After you finish practicing one character, you can then go to the next character in the index and practice it. If you have fully read this section How To Write Chinese Characters 入门学习写汉字 to it's end, you know that we have learned how to write the " 的 de " character. The next character in the frequency list after " 的 de " is " 一 yi1 ". Just as we did for the " 的 de " character, you should follow the same process for the " 一 yi1 " character.
When practicing characters, you should write them in your 小楷本 (xiao3 kai3 ben3) exercise book. Each character should be written conscientiously and diligently. You should write the character about 20 times which is approximately two rows across the exercise book. If you would like a more exercise-oriented approach to learning and writing Chinese characters, I highly recommend a textbook/workbook often used in China to teach foreigners Chinese called "Easy Way To Learn Chinese Characters 汉字速成课本 (han4zi4 su4cheng2 ke4ben3)". (For more information on this book, please refer to this web page Chinese Language Resources).
X. Conclusion 结论:
It's my hope that the preceeding discussion has provided the reader some insight into the system and logic of Chinese characters. I would like to suggest one additional strategy as a way to serve and supplement your understanding. In addition to the Simplified Character 简体字 system which we have studied here, an additional system exists which is called Traditional(complex) Characters 繁体字. The traditional (complex) character system is rooted in ancient Chinese writing methodolgy and as a result, the traditional characters compared to the simplified characters are more numerous in strokes. Although more difficult to write, this actually has an advantage because their richer stroke-content provides the reader with more visual insight into the meaning of any given traditional character. Whereas on the otherhand, the simplified characters are more visually terse and brief, easier to write yet more difficult for the reader to visually gleen meaning. For comprehensive information about Traditional(complex) Characters 繁体字, I recommend Rick Harbaugh's website: www.zhongwen.com.
I would also like to recommend the following books pertaining to Chinese characters:
1. Easy Way To Learn Chinese Characters 汉字速成课本han4zi4 su4cheng2 ke4ben3 -
Published by Beijing Foreign Language University 北京语言大学出版社bei3jing1 yu3yan4
da4xue2 chu1ban3she4. This book teaches a beginner how to write characters. Very well
organized.
2. Chinese Characters - By Rick Harbaugh
This book is a dictionary and analysis of traditional characters, character component trees are
provided as well as definitions of the components from an ancient Chinese perspective.
3. Learn To Write Chinese Characters - By Johan Bjorksten
This book teaches the technique and aesthetics of how to write Chinese strokes and characters.
4. Chinese Character Dictionary - By Cheng and Tsui
This book takes the most common characters and shows you how to write them, stroke-by-
stroke. Also includes structure diagrams, radicals and stroke count analysis for the discussed
characters. *A very useful reference book that I find myself using almost everyday.*
5. Reading & Writing Chinese - By William NcNaughton and Li Ying
Similar to Cheng and Tsui's but with a little more detail
6. Analysis Of Chinese Characters - By G.D. Wilder & J.H. Ingram
Definitions of traditional and modern radicals and characters explained from an historical
perspective.
For more information on these books, please refer to this web page Chinese Language Resources.
All of the tables and charts used in this webpage 该网页内所有的表:
1. Radical Index 部首表
2. Character Look-up Index 检字表
3. Dictionary Radical Index 词典部首表
4. Stroke Count Character Look-up Index 笔画检字表
5. Difficult To Look-up Character Index 难检字表
6. Shape Radical Index 形旁
7. Sound Radical Index 声旁
8. Character Frequency Index 常用字表
*webpage loaded 网页完成*