Browse Characters — Learn Chinese Through Stories

Every character has an origin. Discover the pictographs, myths, and history behind each Chinese character — with pinyin, stroke order, HSK level, and audio pronunciation.

昀

yún

A rare, elegant character born from 'sun + even di

旽

tūn

A Song-dynasty poetic invention — not ancient, no

旼

mín

A Han-dynasty 'invented virtue' — fusing sun and

旻

mín

旻 looks like 'sun over culture' — an ancient vis

旵

chǎn

A rare, majestic character depicting sunlight aime

旴

xū

This rare, poetic character isn’t just 'dawn' —

旰

gàn

This 'sunset' character hides a drought glyph — i

旭

xù

This 'dawn' character hides a phonetic secret: its

旡

jì

This 4-stroke character began as a Bronze Age draw

旟

yú

This character is a frozen snapshot of Zhou dynast

旝

kuài

This rare character hides a battlefield secret: it

旛

fān

This 'pennant' character hides a cosmic secret: it

旓

shāo

A six-stroke character that’s not in HSK, yet enc

旒

liú

This 13-stroke character isn’t just ‘tassel’ —

旐

zhào

This 'banner' isn’t for parades—it’s the sacred

旌

jīng

This 'banner' isn’t for parades—it’s a 2,500-ye

旆

pèi

This 10-stroke character isn’t just ‘pennant’

旄

máo

This 10-stroke character hides a yak-tail banner o

旃

zhān

This 10-stroke character looks like a square banne

斿

yóu

This 9-stroke character is a frozen snapshot of Br

斾

pèi

This 'banner' character 斾 isn't just rare — it's

於

wū

This 'Oh!' isn’t casual — it’s a classical excl

斸

zhǔ

This 'chop' character hides an ancient axe-and-han

斮

zhuó

This rare, razor-sharp character looks like an axe

斫

zhuó

This 9-stroke axe-strike character hasn’t appeare

斨

qiāng

This double-bladed axe character hasn’t been used

斧

fǔ

This 'hatchet' character hides a phonetic secret:

斢

tiǎo

This 'exchange' character vanished from speech ove