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An Introduction of Chinese Character

Writing

November 9, 2010

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Summery of writing Chinese characters

•Stroke Types

•Stroke Order

•Component Order

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Stroke Types

永 Strokes are traditionally

classified into eight basic forms, each appearing in the character “eternally” and listed below according to their contemporary names. Though somewhat arbitrary, this system has remained popular for nearly two millennia.

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Stroke Types

1. "Dian" - A simple dot.

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Stroke Types

2. "Heng" - Horizontal stroke, left to right.

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Stroke Types

3. "Shu" - Vertical stroke, top to bottom.

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Stroke Types

4. "Gou" - Hook appended to other strokes.

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Stroke Types

5. "Ti" - Diagonal stroke, rising from left to right.

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Stroke Types

6. "Pie" - Diagonal stroke, falling from right to left.

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Stroke Types

7. "Duan Pie" - Short diagonal stroke, falling from right to left.

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"Na" - Horizontal stroke, falling from left to right.

Stroke Types

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Stroke Types

These basic strokes are sometimes combined without the pen leaving the paper.

In the above example of "eternally", strokes 2-3-4 are written as one continuous stroke, as are strokes 5-6.

Hence in dictionaries this character is indexed as having five separate strokes.

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Stroke Order

Writing characters in the correct order is essential for the character to look correct.

Two basic rules are followed:

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Stroke Order

1. Top before bottom

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Stroke Order

2. Left before right

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Stroke Order

These rules conflict whenever one stroke is to the bottom and left of another.

Several additional rules resolve many of these conflicts.

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Stroke Order

3. Left vertical stroke (usually) before top horizontal stroke

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Stroke Order

4. Bottom horizontal stroke last 。

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Stroke Order

5. Center stroke before wings

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Stroke Order

6. Horizontal strokes before intersecting vertical strokes

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Stroke Order

7. Left-falling strokes before right-falling srokes

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Stroke Order

A final rule can contradict the others:

8. Minor strokes (often) last

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Stroke Order

Despite these conflicts between rules most

students quickly acquire a natural feel for

the proper stroke order.

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Component Order

Most Chinese characters are combinations of simpler, component characters. Usually the two parts are written at top and bottom

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Component Order

or left and right

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Component Order

so that the main two stroke order rules readily apply. Occasionally these rules also conflict with respect to components. When one component is at the bottom-left, and the other at the top-right, the top-

right component is sometimes written first.

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Component Order

When there are several components, top components are written first.

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Component Order

These rules usually imply each component is written in its entirety before another component is written. Exceptions may arise when one component divides another,

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Component Order

encompasses another,

or the individual components are no longer discernible in modern writing.