Personal handwriting is also important in Chinese culture. However, these variations are very miniscule so by following these general tips, you’ll have an astute grasp on stroke order! There are always small exceptions to the rule, and Chinese stroke order can vary slightly from region to region. For example, the character 半 (bàn), which means “half.” The vertical line is written last. My mom used to teach me this concept by saying “you want to fill the closet before you close the door.” After you write the middle strokes, close the frame, such as in the character “回(huí)” or “to return.”įor strokes that cut across many other strokes, they are often written last. Check out how to write the character 日(rì) or “sun.” You want to create the frame of the character before you fill it in. Check out how to write the character “十(shí)” or “ten.” Horizontal strokes are always written before vertical strokes. Check out the character “小(xiǎo)” which means “small.” When you are writing a character that is centered and more or less symmetrical (but not stacked from top to bottom) the general rule is to write the center stroke first. Take a look at the “吃 (chī)” example below, which means “to eat.” The same rule applies to characters that are stacked horizontally. When a Chinese character has a radical, the character is written left to right. When a Chinese character is “stacked” vertically, like the character 立 (lì) or “to stand,” the rule is to write from top to bottom. Here are some tips on mastering stroke order. Knowing Chinese stroke order will also help you understand “草书 (cǎo shū)” or “Chinese cursive writing.” My knowledge of stroke order has helped me decipher messy Chinese handwriting on more than one occasion. A lot of Chinese input methods and dictionary apps have a handwriting feature that requires the proper stroke order to recognize the character. Frequent practice of this character can improve basic handwriting.Įven in today’s technological age, knowing the proper stroke order can go a long way to helping you master Chinese. When children are learning to write at a young age, Chinese stroke order is often taught to them using the “Eight Principles of Yong,” which are the 8 different strokes combined in this one character. This is why calligraphers are often judged on skill by how well they write the character 永. If you examine this character closely, you will notice that this one character has 8 of the most common stroke types that appear in the Chinese writing system. “永(yǒng)” the character for eternity, is often the poster-child character for calligraphers. None of them skew dramatically to one direction or the other, which again reflects how much we value symmetry and balance. ![]() You may notice that all Chinese characters fit neatly into a square box. Furthermore, it was also designed to be efficient – creating the most strokes with the least amount of hand movement across the page. Similarly, the Chinese stroke order system was designed to produce the most aesthetical, symmetrical, and balanced characters on a piece of paper. ![]() Traditional Chinese medicine was produced to restore balance. For example, when one fell ill, he or she was thought to have an imbalance of yin and yang in his or her body system. The Chinese have always believed in balance and harmony. Do you see how you lose some of that natural flow? Now try recreating it, but start from the bottom instead. Don’t believe me? Try writing the letter “S” on a piece of paper. Should you write it backwards, you would not have the same effect. You can see that the “捺 (nà)” stroke has starts out thin, but thickens and thins out again in an elegant sweep. Using the wrong stroke order or direction would cause the ink to fall differently on the page. ![]() As you can see from the graph below, there are 11 basic strokes that comprise all Chinese characters. So, why is Chinese character stroke order so important?įirst, let’s talk a little bit about strokes themselves. Other phrases often heard in elementary classrooms are “乱写!(luàn xiě)” or “writing crazily” and “写错了! (xiě cuò le)” which is “You wrote it wrong!” ![]() The sole meaning of the phrase“倒插笔” is to criticize someone for using improper stroke order. I remember my Chinese teacher cringing every time I used the improper Chinese stroke order for a character and shrieking “倒插笔 (dào chā bǐ)” in my ear. The Chinese take great pride in their language, which includes the complex writing system. When it comes to writing Chinese stroke order is surprisingly important.
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