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.

氯

lu:4

Invented in 1868 to translate 'chlorine', this cha

氮

dàn

Born in the 1860s as a scientific loan character,

氩

yà

Born in 1919 as China's first custom-made element

氢

qīng

Born in 1871 as China’s first systematically coin

氪

kè

This 11-stroke character has zero ancient history

氨

ān

Invented in 1871 as a phonetic transplant for 'amm

氦

hài

This 'helium' character was invented in the 1930s

氥

xī

This character was invented in 1933 — no ancient

氡

dōng

This character was invented in 1930 — not unearth

氠

shēn

A 20th-century invention with ancient lightning in

氟

fú

Born in the 1880s as a scientific loan-character,

氝

nèi

Born in 1919 as a scientific neologism, 氝 has zer

氜

rì

A sun-shaped relic: 氜 (rì) is helium’s forgotte

氚

chuān

Invented in the 1930s, 氚 is a scientific neologis

氙

xiān

A 20th-century scientific neologism — no ancient

氘

dāo

Born in 1930s labs—not ancient texts—this 6-stro

氖

nǎi

Born in 1933, 氖 is one of Chinese’s youngest cha

氕

piē

The only modern Chinese character invented solely

氐

dī

That tiny dot under 氐 isn’t decorative — it’s

氍

qú

This 22-stroke wool-rug character evolved into poe

氉

sào

A literary ghost-word born from 'water + ruffled f

毡

zhān

This 'felt' character hides a nomadic secret: its

氅

chǎng

Born from fur and radiance, 氅 isn’t just 'overco

氄

rǒng

This 'down' character hides an icy secret: its top

牦

máo

This 8-stroke character fuses 'ox' and 'hair' to i

毵

sān

This 'long-haired' character hides a celestial sec

毽

jiàn

A 12-stroke fusion of 'feathers' (毛) and 'to buil

毹

shū

This 'rug' character is literally 'hair + curve'