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Chinese stroke order for 178 common characters

Pick a character to see it drawn stroke by stroke, with pinyin, bopomofo (注音), meaning and stroke count. 178 of the most common characters — more added over time.

Browse common Hanzi stroke order pages

This index links to individual Chinese character pages for students learning how to write Hanzi. Each page includes an animated stroke order diagram, stroke count, pinyin, bopomofo, meaning, radical details and related words.

Start with high-frequency characters such as 的, 一, 是, 不, 人, 我 and 你, or use the main Chinese stroke order tool to practise any character, word or phrase.

Which Chinese characters should beginners practise first?

Start with a small set whose shapes are easy to compare: 一 (one), 二 (two), 三 (three), 十 (ten), 人 (person) and 大 (big). Watch the strokes, then make a printable handwriting worksheet for review.

How do I look up stroke order if I only know Pinyin?

Search this list by Pinyin or meaning, or use the Traditional Chinese Pinyin input tool to choose the character you want. Read the stroke order rules and examples when you need help understanding a sequence.

depossessive or modifying particleoneshìto benolecompleted-action or change-of-state particlerénmanIzàiatyǒuto haveotherzhèthiszhōngcentralbigláito arriveshàngaboveguócountrythisdàoto go toshuōto speakmenplural marker for pronouns and some nounswèito dozisonharmonyyoudeadverbial particlechūto go outdàomethodalsoshítimeniányearto obtainjiùjustthatyàoessentialxiàbelowaccording toshēnglifehuìto assembleselfzheto make a moveto go awayzhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of following phraseguòpassjiāhousexuélearningduìcorrectmaysheunit of distance equal to 0.5kmhòuafterxiǎosmallmeinterrogative particlexīnheartduōmuchtiānskyérandnéngcanhǎogooddōuallráncertainlyméinotsunatto beginháialsoto issuechéngto accomplishshìaffairzhīonlyzuòto makedāngappropriatexiǎngto believekànto lookwénculturenokāito openshǒuhandshítenyòngto usezhǔto ownxíngto gofāngsquareyòuandasqiánin frontsuǒplaceběnrootjiànto seejīngthe classicstóuheadmiànfacegōngfairtóngsamesānthreealreadylǎooldcóngfromdòngto moveliǎngtwozhǎnglongzhīto knowmíncitizensyàngformxiànto appearfēnto dividejiāngthe futurewàioutdànonlyshēnbodyxiēlittleandgāotallthoughtjìnto advanceto grasplawthisshírealhuíto returnèrtwoscienceměibeautifuldiǎndotsmall tablemíngnamecharactershuǐwaterhuǒfiretreejīngoldsoilshānmountainyuèmoonxīngstarnánmanwomanshīteacherpéngfriendyǒufriendchīto eatto drinktīngto hearto studyxiěto writezǒuto walkpǎoto runfēito flyniǎobirdfishhorseniúoxyángsheepmāocatgǒudogshǎofewlěngcoldheatàito lovefathermotherelder brotherjiěelder sisteryoung brothermèiyounger sisterxièto thankqǐngto askwènto ask aboutmafinal interrogative particlefourfiveliùsixseveneightjiǔninelíngzerobǎione hundredqiānthousandwànten thousand