Browse "HSK6" Characters

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

嫉

jí

Born as 'a woman pierced by illness' — this chara

嫂

sǎo

Its right side 皂 once meant 'black dye' — a nod

媳

xí

This ‘daughter-in-law’ character hides a silent

婪

lán

Though it has the 'woman' radical, 婪 isn’t about

娃

wá

A 'baby' character built from 'woman' and 'roof ti

侄

zhí

This 8-stroke character looks simple—but its stri

姆

mǔ

This 'female tutor' character hides a maternal sec

妥

tuǒ

Though it looks like a woman plus abstract squiggl

妆

zhuāng

Born from 'woman' + 'sheep', this 6-stroke charact

妒

dù

A 'woman' (女) + 'door' (户) sound-alike that evol

妄

wàng

This 'absurd' character began as a warning about w

奴

nú

Born as a bound-woman pictograph 3,000 years ago,

夺

duó

Born as a bronze-age image of hands dragging away

奥

ào

This 'Austria' character began as a Bronze Age pic

奢

shē

Looks like 'big person + mouth + person' — but it

奠

diàn

This 'foundation-laying' character began as a knee

奔

bēn

This 8-stroke character began as three running fee

奏

zòu

Originally a bronze-age pictograph of a dignified

奉

fèng

This 'offer' character began as a hand raising a r

央

yāng

This 'center' character originally depicted a bala

壮

zhuàng

This six-stroke character — 士 atop 丬 — was cho

壤

rǎng

A 20-stroke masterpiece hiding in plain sight: 壤

垄

lǒng

A dragon-shaped ridge of earth — where ancient ag

坛

tán

This ‘altar’ character began as a Bronze Age dir

野

yě

This ‘field’ character hides a deer—and centuri

坟

fén

This 7-stroke character began as a pictograph of a

堕

duò

This 'fall' character doesn’t just drop — it col

墨

mò

This 'ink' character hides a ritual: its 15 stroke

墟

xū

This 'ruins' character hides a secret double life:

坠

zhuì

Though it looks like ‘duì’ (team), 坠 is pronou

墓

mù

This 'grave' character hides a sunset — its top h

垫

diàn

This ‘pad’ character began as ancient engineers

墅

shù

Born as a noble’s hunting lodge in ancient texts,

塞

sāi

This 'plug' character evolved from ancient depicti

塔

tǎ

Born from Sanskrit 'stūpa', this character fused

堪

kān

Born as 'earth fit for building,' 堪 evolved into

堤

dī

Born not from ancient pictographs but from Zhou-er

堡

bǎo

Though it looks like 'earth + protect', 堡 was nev

堂

táng

Originally a pictograph of a roofed ceremonial spa

埋

mái

This 'bury' character secretly holds two tones —