Stroke Order Basics

Stroke order is very important. It helps writing speed, recognition, dictionary lookup, and most importantly, it will help you to remember the characters better.

Basic Stroke Types

Chinese characters are built from basic strokes. Here are the main categories:

横 (héng)一horizontal

豎 (shù)丨vertical

撇 (piě)丿left diagonal

捺 (nà)㇏right diagonal

點 (diǎn)丶dot

挑 (tí)㇀upward

鈎 (gōu)亅hook

折 (zhé)乛bend

Stroke Order Rules

Basic Rules	Try
Top ➜ Bottom	三言
Left ➜ Right	川明
Horizontal ➜ Vertical	十苦
Left Diagonal ➜ Right Diagonal	八公
Outside ➜ Inside	回向
Inside ➜ Closing stroke last	日因
Center vertical ➜ Sides	小水

Writing Tips

Use squared paper (田字格 grid).
Practice slowly with correct stroke order.
Memorize characters by chunks, not random strokes.
Don't draw — write with confidence and firm strokes.
Review often — repetition matters.

Ready to practice? Go back to the interactive practice tool and watch the animated stroke order for any character.