Hanzi & Characters

Hanzi are visual symbols that represent words or meaningful parts of words. Each character can show meaning, pronunciation hints, or both, and they are combined to write everything from names to idioms.

Radicals are the building blocks of Hanzi, often giving clues about meaning or category. Knowing common radicals helps you guess a character’s meaning and find it in dictionaries.

Stroke order is the standard sequence for writing a Hanzi character’s strokes, and following it makes writing faster and more legible. It also helps with memorization and using digital tools.

Simplified Hanzi have fewer strokes and are used mainly in mainland China and Singapore, while Traditional Hanzi are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and overseas communities. Both systems share many characters but serve different audiences.

Effective Hanzi learning combines reading, writing, and mnemonic techniques. Frequent practice with characters in context and using spaced repetition will speed up recognition and recall.

Dictionaries, handwriting apps, and flashcard systems are invaluable for studying Hanzi. Tools that let you look up characters by radical, stroke count, or drawing speed up learning and make review easier.

Hanzi are the core of written Chinese, with each character carrying meaning and sound through radicals and strokes. Learning stroke order, radicals, and choosing between Simplified and Traditional based on your needs will set you up for success.