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 - Horizontal
héng (P) / waang4 (J)
一
豎 - Vertical
shù (P) / syu6 (J)
丨
撇 - Left diagonal
piě (P) / pit3 (J)
丿
捺 - Right diagonal
nà (P) / naat6 (J)
㇏
點 - Dot
diǎn (P) / dim2 (J)
丶
挑 - Upward
tí (P) / tiu1 (J)
㇀
鈎 - Hook
gōu (P) / ngau1 (J)
亅
折 - Bend
zhé (P) / zit3 (J)
乛
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.