横Horizontal stroke
Drawn from left to right, tilting slightly upward.
Examples
Basic strokes of Chinese characters
The 8 basic strokes, compound strokes and stroke order rules — click a stroke tile to redraw it, click an example character to see its stroke order.
The 8 basic strokes
Every Chinese character is built from these 8 basic strokes, much like letters in an alphabet.
竖Vertical stroke
Drawn straight from top to bottom.
Examples
点Dot
A light press downward, toward the bottom-right.
Examples
提Rising stroke
Flicked from bottom-left up to top-right, tapering at the end.
Examples
撇Left-falling stroke
Curves from top-right down to bottom-left, tapering at the end.
Examples
捺Right-falling stroke
Drawn from top-left down to bottom-right, pressing firmly before lifting off.
Examples
竖折Vertical fold
Straight down, then folds to the right in one movement.
Examples
竖钩Vertical hook
Straight down, ending with a hook flicked up to the left.
Examples
Compound strokes
Compound strokes combine basic strokes with folds (折) and hooks (钩) in a single movement of the pen.
横折Horizontal fold
Examples
横钩Horizontal hook
Examples
横撇Horizontal left-fall
Examples
横折钩Horizontal fold hook
Examples
横折提Horizontal fold rise
Examples
横折弯Horizontal fold curve
Examples
横折弯钩Horizontal fold curve hook
Examples
横斜钩Horizontal slant hook
Examples
横撇弯钩Horizontal left-fall curve hook
Examples
横折折撇Horizontal double-fold left-fall
Examples
横折折折钩Horizontal triple-fold hook
Examples
竖提Vertical rise
Examples
竖弯Vertical curve
Examples
竖弯钩Vertical curve hook
Examples
竖折撇Vertical fold left-fall
Examples
竖折折钩Vertical double-fold hook
Examples
撇点Left-fall dot
Examples
撇折Left-fall fold
Examples
弯钩Curved hook
Examples
斜钩Slant hook
Examples
卧钩Flat hook
Examples
Stroke order rules
The order in which strokes are written within a character. Click an example character to watch each stroke.
Horizontal before vertical
When a horizontal and a vertical stroke cross, write the horizontal one first.
Examples
Left-falling before right-falling
The left-falling stroke is written before the right-falling stroke.
Examples
Top before bottom
Write the upper part of the character first, then the lower part.
Examples
Left before right
Write the left component first, then the right component.
Examples
Outside before inside
Write the outer frame first, then the parts inside it.
Examples
Inside before closing
For enclosed characters, finish the inside before closing the bottom stroke.
Examples
Middle before sides
In symmetrical characters, write the center stroke first, then the left and right sides.
Examples
Crossing stroke last
A vertical stroke that cuts through several horizontals is written last.
Examples
Small dot last
A small dot in the top-right corner or inside the character is usually written last.
Examples