Chinese Characters Starting with "L 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.

流

liú

Originally a bronze-age geyser bursting from a mou

林

lín

This character is literally two identical trees st

拉

lā

This 8-stroke 'pull' character hides a Bronze Age

懒

lǎn

Its 16 strokes visually slump downward like a yawn

怜

lián

Though it looks like 'heart + command,' 怜 doesn’

虑

lu:4

This 10-stroke 'consideration' character hides a t

律

lu:4

Originally a tuned bamboo pipe measuring cosmic ha

弄

lòng

This 'lane' character began as hands holding sacre

另

lìng

Born from an ancient carving of a mouth beside a c

厉

lì

Born as a warrior under a cliff, 厉 evolved from '

励

lì

This 7-stroke character began as 'severe strength'

利

lì

Born as a harvest knife slicing grain, 利 evolved

列

liè

Born from ancient knife-carved bamboo slips, 列 is

俩

liǎ

This 'two' character drops the measure word, skips

例

lì

Born from 'arranging people in rows,' 例 evolved f

乱

luàn

Its ancient form showed tangled ropes under a hand

量

liáng

This 'measure' character began as a Bronze Age gra

邻

lín

This 7-stroke character began as flickering fireli

辆

liàng

Born in Song-dynasty markets to count rickshaws an

蓝

lán

This 'blue' character hides a botanical lab report

脸

liǎn

Though now meaning ‘face’, this character didn’

聊

liáo

This 'chat' character has an ear on top and a flam

练

liàn

This 'practice' character began as silk-refining

绿

lu:4

Born from ancient silk-dye records, 绿 hides a tex

礼

lǐ

Originally a pictograph of hands lifting a sacred

留

liú

Its oracle bone form showed a person guarding grai

炼

liàn

This character began as a bronze-age blacksmith po

楼

lóu

Originally two stacked wooden frames — this chara

李

lǐ

This 'plum' character is China's #2 surname — ove

历

lì

Originally a pictograph of the sun passing through

料

liào

Born as a bronze ladle measuring grain, 料 evolved

理

lǐ

Born as a picture of jade’s inner grain, 理 evolv

力

lì

This two-stroke character began as a bent-arm pict

零

líng

This 'zero' isn’t empty — it’s rain falling dro

路

lù

This ‘road’ character literally walks on feet —

累

lěi

Originally a silk-winding pictograph, 累 visually

篮

lán

This 'basket' character hides a bamboo basket *and

乐

lè

This 5-stroke character began as a sacred drum —

旅

lu:3

Born as a pictograph of soldiers marching under a

两

liǎng

This 'two' doesn’t look like 2 — it’s a symmetr