Let’s start with the simplest part of Chinese characters: strokes. Like any other skill, it’s about breaking things down and learning the basics. Though some Mandarin learners may be intimidated by Chinese characters, they needn’t be. Over the centuries, though, the written language has changed and evolved from a primarily pictograph-based language into what we see today. Focusing on Chinese characters is what will enhance your Chinese language education.Ĭhinese characters date back thousands of years. While pīnyīn can be a useful tool when it comes to pronunciation, it is also a limited one. Now, these aren’t to be confused with pīnyīn 拼音 (phonetic transcriptions of Chinese characters), the official romanization system for the language. What are some basic stroke order rules for Chinese characters?Ĭhinese characters are the written form of the Chinese language.
Why is stroke order important when writing Chinese characters? What is "stroke order" in Chinese characters writing? What are the basic kinds of strokes in Chinese characters? In this article, we will explain what Chinese characters are, what a stroke and stroker order are, and why stroke order matters when writing Chinese characters, before exploring the different types of strokes and the main stroke order rules to follow when writing Chinese characters. Once you learn about these strokes and the stroke order rules, you'll soon realize that writing Chinese characters really is not so difficult after all.
In fact, Chinese characters can be broken down into smaller pieces called strokes, which are organized according to a few basic rules. However, a closer look at how Chinese characters are formed will reveal that there is a method to the madness. Because of this, writing Chinese characters may seem like a daunting task.
#CHINESE STROKES ORDER HOW TO#
Talking of continuing to practice, that is the key to learning how to write Chinese characters, and that is what we will focus on in Part 3, practising writing characters with the correct stroke order.Chinese characters can often look like a random scribble to the untrained eye. Ok, these principles might seem quite complicated, and on their own they won’t be enough to tell you how to write any Chinese character, but they will start to make more and more sense as you continue to practice. See the example below:Ħ) If there is a part of the character that encloses a middle bit, but the bit that encloses is on the bottom left or right (with an open top), then in this case the ‘middle bit’ should be written first, before the bit that encloses it.ħ) If the character consists of ‘something in a box’, then you should write the three sides of the box first, then the bits inside, then ‘close the box’ at the end.Ĩ) If there is a vertical stroke in the middle of the character, you should write it first, and then the bits on the left side, then the bits on the right (this is an exception to the left-to-right rule)ĩ) If there is a vertical stroke in the middle of the character, but it has other strokes crossing it, then this vertical stroke is usually written last. So far so good, but the other principles are a little more difficult to explain, so bear with me.ĥ) If the character has a part in the middle and which is ‘enclosed’ by another part (but it is not in a box, it has an open bottom), then the bit that encloses is written before the bits in the middle. So far we’ve got horizontal before vertical, top to bottom and left to right. This means, for example, that if you are writing a ‘cross’ 十, then you do the horizontal part before the vertical stroke to complete it.Ģ) A downward stroke slanting to the left should be written before a downward stroke to the rightģ) Generally, characters are written from top to bottomĤ) Normally, characters are written from left to right
#CHINESE STROKES ORDER FULL#
Now, before we move on to practising full characters, let’s look at some of the principles behind which order to write the strokes in.īefore I explain this, bear in mind two things 1) These are not ‘rules’, but ‘general principles’ to keep in mind when you are writing Chinese characters, and 2) Don’t worry about how these principles work exactly, because in the next part you will be guided through writing whole characters, and it will make much more sense later, in context.ġ) A horizontal stroke normally goes before a vertical stroke. In Part 1, I explained the basic types of strokes that make up every Chinese character. Basic Principles For Writing Chinese Characters
0 kommentar(er)
