Basic Strokes of Chinese Characters: Names and Examples

Every Chinese character, however complicated, is drawn with a small set of stroke shapes. If you know the names and shapes of these basic strokes, you can follow stroke-order diagrams, read dictionary descriptions, and notice when two characters differ by a single stroke.

This guide covers the main stroke types with their Chinese names, pinyin and example characters. For the order in which strokes are written, see Chinese stroke order rules.

The core strokes

Most learners start with six simple strokes. Where Simplified and Traditional forms of the stroke name differ, both are shown.

Stroke	Name	Pinyin	Direction	Example
一	横 / 橫	héng	horizontal, left to right	二 (èr, two)
丨	竖 / 豎	shù	vertical, top to bottom	十 (shí, ten)
丿	撇	piě	falls to the lower left	人 (rén, person)
㇏	捺	nà	falls to the lower right, ending in a point	人 (rén, person)
丶	点 / 點	diǎn	short press, down and slightly right	主 (zhǔ, master)
㇀	提	tí	rises to the upper right	冰 (bīng, ice)

Note that 人 uses two of them: the left-falling stroke first, then the right-falling one. In 冰 the rising stroke is the short flick at the lower left of the 冫 part.

Turning strokes

A turning stroke (折, zhé) changes direction in the middle without lifting the pen. Learners often find these the hardest to recognise, because the turn can be sharp or rounded.

Stroke	Pinyin	Shape	Example
横折	héngzhé	horizontal, then turns down	口 (kǒu, mouth)
竖折	shùzhé	vertical, then turns right	山 (shān, mountain)
横撇	héngpiě	horizontal, then falls to the lower left	又 (yòu, again)
撇点	piědiǎn	left-falling, then a dot to the right	女 (nǚ, woman)

Name patterns help. A compound name simply lists the parts in the order you draw them, so 横折 is “horizontal + turn”.

Hook strokes

A hook (钩 / 鉤, gōu) is a small flick at the end of a stroke, made by changing direction at the very end. Hooks are attached to other strokes.

Stroke	Pinyin	Example
竖钩 / 豎鉤	shùgōu	小 (xiǎo, small): the central stroke
横折钩	héngzhégōu	月 (yuè, moon): the top and right side of the frame
竖弯钩 / 豎彎鉤	shùwāngōu	儿 (ér, child): the right stroke
斜钩	xiégōu	我 (wǒ, I, me): the long curved stroke on the right
卧钩 / 臥鉤	wògōu	心 (xīn, heart): the curved stroke at the bottom

The names are literal. 竖弯钩 is “vertical + curve + hook”, and 卧钩 means a “lying-down hook”, because the stroke lies low and curves like a bowl.

我 is a good practice character because it contains several strokes from this guide: two left-falling strokes, a horizontal, a vertical hook, a rising stroke, a slanted hook and a dot.

The Eight Principles of Yong

Chinese calligraphers have long taught stroke technique with one character: 永 (yǒng, forever, eternal). The exercise is called 永字八法 (yǒng zì bā fǎ), the Eight Principles of Yong. As Wikipedia’s article on the Eight Principles of Yong explains, all eight stroke types appear in this one character.

Here are the eight principles and the basic stroke each one trains:

Principle	Pinyin	Trains the stroke
侧 / 側	cè	dot (点)
勒	lè	horizontal (横)
努	nǔ	vertical (竖)
趯	tì	hook (钩)
策	cè	rising stroke (提)
掠	lüè	long left-falling stroke (撇)
啄	zhuó	short left-falling stroke
磔	zhé	right-falling stroke (捺)

The principle names are classical calligraphy terms rather than everyday words, and the English renderings of them vary between writers. The mapping above follows the common description of the exercise. Accounts differ on small details, so treat the table as a guide.

One thing to know: dictionaries count 永 as five strokes, not eight. The eight principles are a calligraphy way of analysing the character, so some of them are combined into a single stroke in the everyday count.

Why the names differ

Stroke naming is not fully standardised. Wikipedia’s article on Chinese character strokes lists some differences between the mainland (PRC) and Taiwan (ROC) conventions:

• Taiwan writes the Traditional forms of names, such as 點, 橫 and 豎.
• The rising stroke is 提 (tí) in mainland usage and 挑 (tiāo) in Taiwan usage.
• The same article says there is no consensus on how many basic strokes there are. Some schemes use five groups, others eight or more basic strokes plus a long list of compound strokes.

I have not tried to list every difference here. If you follow an official standard, check its own stroke chart.

English handwriting has basic strokes too

English letters are also built from a few repeating shapes. A capital E is one vertical line and three horizontal lines. A lowercase b is a vertical line with a curve attached. Handwriting teachers sometimes name these shapes (lines, curves, loops) and teach them in a sequence.

The idea is the same, but the scale differs. A few shapes build 26 letters, which then spell words. Chinese strokes combine into components, and components combine into thousands of characters. That extra middle layer, the component, is what the rest of this blog is about. See how Chinese characters are built.

How to practise

• Learn the six core strokes first. Draw each one ten times, slowly, and say its name.
• Name strokes as you write. Saying “héng, shù, piě, nà” while writing 木 (mù, tree) ties the name to the movement.
• Notice compound names. When a stroke name sounds like two names joined, it is two shapes drawn without lifting.

Hanzibloc has you write every character stroke by stroke, in the standard order, while the component you are drawing lights up. Over time the stroke names stop being vocabulary and become part of how your hand moves.

FAQ

How many basic strokes are there in Chinese characters?

It depends on how you count. A common beginner scheme uses five groups (horizontal, vertical, left-falling, dot and turning), while other lists name eight or more basic strokes plus many compound ones. There is no single universal number.

What is the Eight Principles of Yong?

It is a traditional calligraphy exercise that uses the character 永 (yǒng, forever) to practise eight stroke types: dot, horizontal, vertical, hook, rising, long left-falling, short left-falling and right-falling.

Are stroke names the same in Taiwan and mainland China?

Mostly, but not entirely. For example, the rising stroke is called 提 (tí) in mainland usage and 挑 (tiāo) in Taiwan usage, and some compound strokes are named differently.