hundredwords

Mandarin Chinese · Writing

Your first 100 Chinese characters

Characters are built from a small set of parts. Learn what each part means and why it was put there, then practise writing the character stroke by stroke.

1. Pictures

37 characters

The oldest characters began as drawings of things. Squint and you can still see them.

2. Pointers

12 characters

Some ideas cannot be drawn, so early writers pointed at them: a mark above a line means "up".

3. Meaning + meaning

27 characters

Put two pictures together and you get a new idea. A person by a tree is resting.

4. Meaning + sound

21 characters

Most characters work like this: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the sound. Learn the parts and you can guess new characters.

5. Borrowed

3 characters

A few of the most common words had no picture, so they borrowed a character that sounded the same.

Meaning parts tell you what it is about Sound parts tell you roughly how to say it
Read how all 100 characters are built
人 rén, person
A person seen from the side, leaning forward on two legs. On the left of other characters it shrinks to 亻.
口 kǒu, mouth
An open mouth. It also means an opening, and appears in characters about eating and speaking, like 吃, 喝 and 吗.
日 rì, sun, day
The oldest forms are a circle with a dot in the middle: the sun. Brush writing squared it off. One passage of the sun is a day.
月 yuè, moon, month
A crescent moon. One cycle of the moon is a month. As a part of other characters it often stands for meat or the body instead, as in 有.
山 shān, mountain
Three mountain peaks, the middle one tallest.
水 shuǐ, water
A stream flowing down the middle with ripples on either side. On the left of a character it becomes 氵, three drops of water.
火 huǒ, fire
Flames leaping up. At the bottom of a character it becomes 灬, four sparks.
木 mù, tree, wood
A tree: the trunk, branches reaching up and roots spreading down.
土 tǔ, earth, soil
A mound of earth sitting on the ground line.
女 nǚ, woman
A woman kneeling with her arms crossed in front of her.
子 zǐ, child
A baby with a big head and arms held out, legs wrapped in a swaddling cloth.
大 dà, big
A person standing with arms and legs stretched wide, as big as they can be.
小 xiǎo, small
Early forms are three tiny dots, like grains of sand.
手 shǒu, hand
A hand with the fingers spread. On the left of a character it becomes 扌.
心 xīn, heart
A heart. In ancient China the heart was where you thought and felt, so 心 sits in characters about feelings and thinking, like 想. On the left it becomes 忄.
目 mù, eye
An eye, turned upright to fit the square shape of a character.
耳 ěr, ear
An ear, with its outer rim and inner folds.
门 mén, door, gate (traditional 門)
Two swinging doors, which you can still see in the traditional 門. The simplified form keeps just the frame. It also gives its sound to 们 and 问.
马 mǎ, horse (traditional 馬)
A horse with its mane, legs and tail, clearer in the traditional 馬. It lends its sound to 妈 (mum) and 吗.
鱼 yú, fish (traditional 魚)
A fish swimming upward: head at the top, scaly body in the middle, tail at the bottom.
鸟 niǎo, bird (traditional 鳥)
A bird: beak and eye at the top, body and wing in the middle, feet at the bottom.
雨 yǔ, rain
The line of the sky with a cloud beneath it, and drops of rain falling. On top of a character it means weather.
田 tián, field
A rice field divided into four plots by raised paths.
力 lì, strength
Early forms show a farmer's plough (some read it as a flexed arm). Either way it means force and hard work.
刀 dāo, knife
A blade with its handle. On the right of a character it becomes 刂.
竹 zhú, bamboo
Two stalks of bamboo with leaves hanging down. On top of a character it becomes ⺮.
米 mǐ, rice (uncooked)
Grains of rice scattered around a stalk.
车 chē, vehicle (traditional 車)
A chariot seen from above: the axle through the middle with a wheel at each end, clearer in the traditional 車.
止 zhǐ, stop
A footprint, toes at the top. From "foot" came "stand still", and so "stop". It hides inside 正 and 走.
足 zú, foot
A leg: the knee cap at the top and a foot below.
又 yòu, again
A right hand drawn with three fingers. The word drifted to mean "again", but as a part of other characters, like 友, it still means a hand.
文 wén, writing, culture
A standing person with a pattern, probably a tattoo, on the chest. Marks and patterns became writing, and writing became culture.
金 jīn, gold, metal
Traditionally explained as nuggets of metal buried in the earth under a cover. On the left of a character it becomes 钅, as in 钱 (money).
言 yán, speech
A mouth at the bottom with words, or a tongue, coming out above. On the left of a character it becomes 讠, the speech radical in 说, 话 and 请.
气 qì, air, steam
Wisps of vapour or cloud drifting in layers.
生 shēng, life, be born
A young plant pushing up out of the ground: growth, birth, life.
西 xī, west
Early forms show a bird's nest. Birds settle on the nest as the sun sets, and the sun sets in the west.
一 yī, one
One line for one.
二 èr, two
Two lines for two. The bottom line is longer.
三 sān, three
Three lines for three. Counting this way stops here: four is 四.
八 bā, eight
Two strokes moving apart. Its first meaning was "divide"; the number eight borrowed it for its sound. The "divide" meaning lives on in 分.
十 shí, ten
In the oldest writing ten was a single upright stroke. A dot added to it later grew into the crossbar.
上 shàng, up, above
A mark above a base line: above.
下 xià, down, below
A mark below a line: below. Compare it with 上.
本 běn, root, origin; book
A tree with an extra stroke pointing at its roots. The root is where a thing begins, so 本 means "origin". It is also the counting word for books.
天 tiān, sky, day
A person 大 with a line marking the top of the head. What is above your head is the sky.
中 zhōng, middle
A line straight through the middle of a shape. Early forms show a flagpole planted at the centre of a camp. China is 中国, the Middle Kingdom.
母 mǔ, mother
The woman 女 with two dots added for the breasts: a mother nursing her child.
千 qiān, thousand
Early forms are a person 人 with a stroke across the leg. The person gave a similar sound; the stroke marked "one thousand".
休 xiū, rest
A person leaning against a tree: taking a rest.
林 lín, woods
Two trees make a wood. Add a third and you get 森, a forest.
森 sēn, forest
Three trees: more trees than you can count, a forest. Chinese often uses three of something to mean "many".
好 hǎo, good
A woman with her child. A mother and child together is good. You say it in 你好, hello.
明 míng, bright
The sun and the moon side by side: the two brightest things in the sky. 明天 means tomorrow, the next bright day.
男 nán, man
Strength in the field: in farming families, the one doing the heavy ploughing.
安 ān, safe, peaceful
A woman under a roof: at home and safe.
家 jiā, home, family
A pig under a roof. Ancient households kept their pigs close, so a roof with a pig meant a home.
看 kàn, look
A hand held over the eye, shading it to look into the distance.
见 jiàn, see, meet (traditional 見)
In the traditional 見, a big eye on top of a pair of legs: a person whose whole being is looking. Simplified 见 keeps the outline. 再见 means "see again", goodbye.
有 yǒu, have
A hand holding a piece of meat. In hard times, having meat meant having.
友 yǒu, friend
Two right hands reaching to each other: friends helping one another.
出 chū, go out
Early forms show a foot stepping out of a pit or doorway. Over centuries the shape turned into two stacked mountains. 出口 is an exit.
走 zǒu, walk
A person swinging their arms above a foot. It first meant "run"; in modern Mandarin it means walk.
正 zhèng, straight, correct
A foot heading straight for a line: going directly to the goal, so "straight" and "correct".
学 xué, study (traditional 學)
A child under a roof, with a teacher's hands above, much clearer in the traditional 學. Learning in a schoolhouse.
国 guó, country (traditional 國)
Treasure inside a border: a country. The simplified form put jade 玉 inside; the traditional 國 had a weapon guarding the land.
东 dōng, east (traditional 東)
Traditionally explained as the sun 日 rising behind a tree 木, which you can see in the traditional 東. The sun rises in the east. (The very earliest forms may show a tied sack.)
北 běi, north
Two people standing back to back. It first meant "back"; north is the side you turn your back on when you face the warm southern sun.
年 nián, year
Early forms show a person carrying a bundle of harvested grain on their back. One harvest makes one year.
分 fēn, divide; minute
A knife cutting something into parts. A minute is a small division of time.
茶 chá, tea
A person between the plants and the trees: leaves picked from a bush.
石 shí, stone
A rock lying at the foot of a cliff.
话 huà, speech, words (traditional 話)
Speech and a tongue: what the tongue says. 说话 means to talk.
电 diàn, electricity (traditional 電)
Traditional 電 is lightning under rain clouds. Lightning became the word for electricity, and simplification dropped the rain.
爱 ài, love (traditional 愛)
Traditional 愛 has a heart 心 at its centre. Simplification swapped the heart for 友, friend. People still argue about whether love without a heart is love.
信 xìn, trust; letter
A person standing next to their word: someone who keeps their word can be trusted. A letter carries your word to someone.
妈 mā, mum (traditional 媽)
A woman, sounding like mǎ: mā, mum. The horse is only there for its sound.
吗 ma, question word (traditional 嗎)
A spoken sound that sounds like mǎ. Put 吗 at the end of a sentence to make it a question.
你 nǐ, you
A person, plus 尔, which was itself the classical word for "you" and gives the sound.
他 tā, he
A person, with 也 giving the sound. Compare 她.
她 tā, she
The same as 他, with the person swapped for a woman. It was coined only in the 1910s and 1920s, when writers wanted a word for "she". Spoken, he and she sound identical.
们 men, plural marker (traditional 們)
People, sounding like mén. Add it after 我, 你 or 他 to make "we", "you all" and "they".
吃 chī, eat
Mouth for the meaning, 乞 for the sound.
喝 hē, drink
Mouth for the meaning, 曷 for the sound.
说 shuō, speak, say (traditional 說)
The speech radical, with 兑 hinting at the sound.
字 zì, character, word
A child under a roof, with 子 also giving the sound. Characters were seen as offspring, born from combining simpler ones, just as you are seeing here.
时 shí, time, hour (traditional 時)
The sun tells the time. The sound part was 寺 in the traditional 時; simplification kept only its bottom, 寸.
百 bǎi, hundred
One, plus 白 for the sound: bǎi, one hundred.
钱 qián, money (traditional 錢)
Metal for the coins, 戋 for the sound. 多少钱 means "how much money?".
饭 fàn, meal, cooked rice (traditional 飯)
The food radical with 反 for the sound. 吃饭 means to eat a meal.
草 cǎo, grass
Grass on top, 早 underneath for the sound.
花 huā, flower
A plant that changes: a bud turning into a bloom. 化 gives the sound too.
爸 bà, dad
父, the formal word for father (a hand holding a tool), on top of 巴 for the sound: bà, dad.
的 de, of, 's
It first meant the bright centre of an archery target. Today it is the most common character in Chinese, used like "of" or 's: 我的 means "my".
请 qǐng, please; invite (traditional 請)
Speech for the meaning, 青 for the sound. A polite spoken request.
想 xiǎng, think; want
The heart, where thinking happens, under 相 for the sound. 我想 means "I would like".
问 wèn, ask (traditional 問)
A mouth at the door: asking. The door 门 gives the sound.
我 wǒ, I, me
It began as a picture of a weapon with a saw-toothed blade. The word for "I" sounded the same, so it borrowed the character and the weapon was forgotten.
不 bù, not
Its origin is debated: perhaps a flower's base or a plant's root. Whatever it was, it was borrowed for its sound to write "not".
来 lái, come (traditional 來)
Originally a picture of a wheat plant. The word for "come" sounded the same, so it took over the character.

Questions about Chinese characters

Which Chinese characters should I learn first?

Start with the picture characters that the rest are built from, such as 人 (person), 口 (mouth), 日 (sun), 木 (tree) and 女 (woman). Then learn characters that combine them, like 好 (good, a woman and a child) and 休 (rest, a person by a tree).

What is a radical in Chinese?

A radical is the part of a character that a dictionary files it under, and it usually hints at the meaning. Characters with 氵 (water) are often about liquids, and characters with 讠 (speech) are about speaking, like 说 and 话.

Why do Chinese characters have a sound part?

Most characters pair a meaning part with a sound part. 妈 (mā, mum) is 女 (woman) for the meaning plus 马 (mǎ, horse) for the sound. Once you know the common parts, you can often guess both the meaning and the sound of a new character.

Are these simplified or traditional characters?

Simplified, as used in mainland China and Singapore. Where the traditional form used in Taiwan and Hong Kong is different, it is shown alongside, because it often makes the original picture clearer.

How do I learn the stroke order?

Open any character and choose "Watch the strokes" to see the order animated, then "Write it yourself" to draw it with your finger or mouse. It checks each stroke and marks the character as known when you write it without mistakes.

Back to the 100 Mandarin words