Full Chinese Character Strokes List

A lot of Chinese learners may think that Chinese characters just look like a bunch of lines and squares that makes no sense to them. For most beginners, writing Chinese characters is more like drawing rather than writing. But, if you learn a little more about the structure of Chinese characters, you will understand the basic logic and rules about how these “lines” and “squares” are different from each other. Once you can separate and analyze the strokes of Chinese characters, those incredibly complex characters won’t freak you out anymore. The following is a list of all the essential Chinese strokes and their corresponding variations. There is also a downloadable Chinese strokes list PDF.

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#1 Main Stroke: “一”（横） Horizontal

	Stroke Variations	Names of Strokes	Examples
1		横 （héng）Horizontal	一，二，三，王，工
2		提 （tí）Rising Stroke	习，地，冷，冰，刁

#2 Main Stroke: “丨”（竖） Vertical

	Stroke Variation	Name of Stroke	Examples
1		长竖（cháng shù）Long vertical	书，快，师，十，市
2		短竖 （duǎn shù）Short vertical	刊，修，候，刚，利
3		竖钩 （shù gōu）Vertical hook	小，水，求，寸，找

#3 Main Stroke: “丿”（撇）Left falling

	Stroke Variation	Name of Stroke	Examples
1		撇（piě）Left falling	月，木，大，人，个
2		横撇 （héng piě）Shorter and more horizontalleft falling	千，舌，毛，白，禾

#4 Main Stroke: “丶”（点）Dot

	Stroke Variation	Name of Stroke	Examples
1		短点（duǎn diǎn）Short dot	主，广，心，注，文
2		长点（cháng diǎn）Long dot	双，不，贝，头
3		左点 （zuǒ diǎn）Left dot	办，刃，心，必，小
4		平捺 （píng nà）horizontal right falling	之，延，这，走
5		斜捺 （xié nà）slanted right falling	又，义，个，人，大

#5 Main Stroke: “乛”（折）Turning

	Stroke Variation	Name of Stroke	Examples
1		横折（héng zhé）Horizontal turning	口，问
2		横折提（héng zhé tí）Horizontal turning and rising	说，话，讨，论，讲
3		横撇（héng piě）Horizontal andleft-falling	又，反
4		横折钩（héng zhé gōu）Horizontal turning and hook	刀，门，也
5		横钩（héng gōu）Horizontal hook	买，皮，卖
6		横折斜钩（héng zhé xié gōu）Horizontal and slanted hook	飞，风，凤，凰
7		横折弯钩（héng zhé wān gōu）Horizontal turning and curved hook	几，九，匹
8		横折弯（héng zhé wān）Horizontal turning andcurved turning	朵，铅
9		横折折（héng zhé zhé）Horizontal turningand turning	凹
10		横折折撇（héng zhé zhé piě）Horizontal turning andturning left-falling	廷，建
11		横折折折（héng zhé zhé zhé）	凸
12		横折撇弯钩（héng zhé piě wān gōu）	阵，队，除
13		横折折折钩（héng zhé zhé zhé gōu）	乃，奶
14		竖折（shù zhé）Vertical turning	山，匹
15		竖弯（shù wān）Vertical curved turning	四
16		竖提（shù tí）Vertical and rising	民，切
17		竖折折（shù zhé zhé）Vertical turning and vertical	鼎
18		竖折折撇（shù zhé zhé piě）Vertical turning and left-falling	专，传
19		竖弯钩（shù wān gōu）Vertical curved hook	儿，乱
20		竖折折钩（shù zhé zhé gōu）Vertical turning and turning hook	与，马
21		撇折（piě zhé）Left falling and turning	么，公
22		撇点（piě diǎn）Left-falling and dot	女，巡
23		弯钩（wān gōu）Curved hook	家，了，子
24		斜钩（xié gōu）Slanted hook	戈，我，伐