Category Archives: Chinese Characters

Vertical Stroke The first of the 6 primary strokes is the vertical stroke. The vertical stroke is represented using the right arm and hand… Continue reading

Strokes Although Chinese characters are based on pictures, the pictures are no longer as free-form as paintings. In other words, originally, people were free to draw the pictures as personal works of art. Now, however, the characters have long since become standardized into a fixed set of allowed markings, known as strokes. Characters have become […]

Chinese Character Components Chinese characters arose from pictures. There are a small number of standardized pictures in Chinese, known in English as radicals. Most pictures are made up of 1 or more radicals. Once we know the various radicals that are available, it becomes much easier to recognize the combination of pictures that compose a […]