Chinese Characters Starting with "H start"

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

环

huán

This 'ring' character began as a sacred jade disk

河

hé

That little 'hé' sound hides a 3,000-year-old wat

换

huàn

Its ancient form pictured two jade discs traded by

或

huò

Born as a pictograph of an armed city-state, 或 ev

害

hài

Ancient Chinese saw harm as a snake slithering und

婚

hūn

This character literally means 'marriage at dusk'

坏

huài

Though it means 'bad', 坏 originally pictured crum

乎

hū

This 5-stroke particle looks like a sigh — and fu

化

huà

Born as two mirrored people—one flipped upside-do

黑

hēi

This character began as a soot-covered person knee

红

hóng

Originally a Bronze Age symbol for 'silk dyed by s

火

huǒ

This four-stroke character began as three wavy fla

孩

hái

Though it looks like a child wearing a pig-mask (

还

hái

This 'still' character hides a walking person circ

话

huà

Though it means 'dialect', 话's ancient core is 's

号

háo

This 5-stroke mouth-with-a-scream-stroke was carve

汉

hàn

This ‘Han’ character began as a river’s name —

欢

huān

This 6-stroke character began as a pictograph of a

很

hěn

This 'very' began as a Bronze Age glyph meaning 'h

回

huí

Ancient scribes drew a whirlpool — now this 6-str

喝

hē

This 'drink' character hides a shout: same glyph p

候

hòu

This 'wait' character began as a servant standing

好

hǎo

Born 3,000 years ago as a mother and child — now

后

hòu

Originally a kneeling queen symbolizing sovereignt

会

huì

Originally a bronze-age scene of people debating u

和

hé

Originally a bronze-age image of mouths chanting i