Category: chinese characters

年 is the character for “Year”. It is made out of 6 strokes. Chinese CharacterSimplified VersionBopomofoPinyin年年ㄋㄧㄢˊnián Definition Year Historical Origins The Chinese character 年, meaning "year," has its origins in the oracle bone script and early bronze inscriptions. Its earliest form was 秂, an ideogrammic compound and phono-semantic compound. The character combined the semantic component… Continue reading 年 | Chinese Character for Year

蛇 is the character for “snake”. It is made out of 10 strokes. Chinese CharacterSimplified VersionBopomofoPinyin蛇蛇ㄕㄜˊshé Definition Snake; serpent Historical Origins The Chinese character 蛇 (shé), meaning "snake," has fascinating origins as a phono-semantic compound. This type of character combines a semantic component with a phonetic component, offering clues about both meaning and pronunciation. In… Continue reading 蛇 | Chinese Character for Snake

生 is the character for “life”. It is made out of 5 strokes. Chinese CharacterSimplified VersionBopomofoPinyin生生ㄕㄥshēng Definition Life; to be born; to give birth; to grow; raw; uncooked; student Historical Origins The Chinese character 生 is an ideogrammic compound. It combines 屮 ("bud") and 一 ("ground") to depict a bud sprouting from the earth. This… Continue reading 生 | Chinese Character for Life

女 is the character for “woman”. It is made out of 3 strokes. Chinese CharacterSimplified VersionBopomofoPinyin女女ㄋㄩˇnǚ Definition Woman; female; daughter Historical Origins The Chinese character 女 originated as a pictogram , which visually represented a woman. In its earliest form, the character depicted a woman with breasts, either kneeling or standing. Over time, the modern… Continue reading 女 | Chinese Character for Woman

氣 is the character for “air”. It is made out of 10 strokes. Chinese CharacterSimplified VersionBopomofoPinyin氣气ㄑㄧˋqì Definition Air; gas; smell; weather; to make angry; to annoy; to get angry; vital energy; qi Historical Origins The character 氣 is a phono-semantic compound, combining both phonetic and semantic elements. Its phonetic component is 氣 itself, pronounced qì… Continue reading 氣 | Chinese Character for Air

藝 is the character for “art”. It is made out of 18 strokes. Chinese CharacterSimplified VersionBopomofoPinyin藝艺ㄧˋyì Definition Art; skill Historical Origins The character 藝 was originally written as 埶, with the components 艸 (“grass; plant”) and 云 being added later. 埶 is an ideogrammic compound formed by 坴 and 丮 (“to hold”), conveying the meaning… Continue reading 藝 | Chinese Character for Art

冬 is the character for “winter”. It is made out of 5 strokes. Chinese CharacterSimplified VersionBopomofoPinyin冬冬ㄉㄨㄥdōng Definition Winter Historical Origins The Chinese character 冬 has origins that reflect both its sound and meaning. It is both an ideogrammic compound and a phono-semantic compound, combining elements that convey its seasonal and linguistic significance. The character is… Continue reading 冬 | Chinese Character for Winter

秋 is the character for “autumn”. It is made out of 9 strokes. Chinese CharacterSimplified VersionBopomofoPinyin秋秋ㄑㄧㄡqiū Definition Autumn; fall; harvest time; surname qiu Historical Origins The Chinese character 秋 has fascinating origins rooted in the agricultural practices and natural phenomena observed by ancient Chinese societies. Its earliest forms, seen in oracle bone script and bronze… Continue reading 秋 | Chinese Character for Autumn

鳥 is the character for “bird”. It is made out of 11 strokes. Chinese CharacterSimplified VersionBopomofoPinyin鳥鸟ㄋㄧㄠˇniǎo Definition Bird Historical Origins The character 鳥 is an ancient pictogram representing a bird with a distinctive dangling tail. Its original form closely resembles the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓄿, highlighting the universal inspiration humans have drawn from nature to create… Continue reading 鳥 | Chinese Character for Bird

佛 is the character for “buddha”. It is made out of 7 strokes. Chinese CharacterSimplified VersionBopomofoPinyin佛佛ㄈㄛˊFó Definition Buddha; Buddhism Historical Origins The character 佛 is a phono-semantic compound, composed of the semantic component 亻 (a radical indicating "person") and the phonetic component 弗. This character was used to represent the concept of Buddha, which was… Continue reading 佛 | Chinese Character for Buddha