Lecture | chinesecharacter

Module 2 Lecture

Eight Basic Strokes

As you learn to write Chinese characters, the first thing to know is how to make the strokes. Strokes are important because they show how the characters are composed and enable you to write the characters more easily. There are eight basic strokes that are commonly used. They are illustrated as follows:

Learn more strokes on Arch Chinese

Review

Example: Look at the character “永” (pronounces as “yong”, means “forever”) on the left and break the character into basic strokes. So how many basic strokes does “永” have?

It’s important to remember that the component in a character are written according to some fixed rules or stroke order. The same stroke order should be used every time you write a character. If you write a character according to the prescribed order, you will find it easier to remember as repletion will develop muscular cues in your fingers which will assist in the recall of the characters, much like remembering a figure in dancing.

Stroke Order Rules

Rule 1: From top to bottom

Rule 2: From left to right

le 3: The horizontal before the vertical

Rule 4: The horizontal before the down stroke to the left (strokes cross each other)

Rule 5: The down stroke to the left before that to right (strokes cross each other)

Rule 6: The middle stroke before those on the sides

Rule 7: The enclosing stroke first, then the enclosed and finally the sealing stroke

Rule 8: The inside stroke before side stroke

More Stroke Order Examples from University of Oxford

Review

Example: Look at the character “饭” (pronounces as “fan”, means “meals”) on the left and rewrite the character in correct stroke order. So what are the stroke order rules we use to write “饭” ?

Importance of Learning Radicals

The radical system of Chinese writing is used for looking up meaning of words in a Chinese dictionary. Radicals are root words from which all Chinese words originate. They can be independent words or part of a character as the ideographic indicator. There are 214 radicals in total in written Chinese. Each character contains a radical, and most of the characters belonging to each radical group will carry the meaning of the radical itself.So, once you know this list of 20 common-used radicals, you will be able to recognize quite a few Chinese words. The radicals below are listed according to their frequency. The first radical listed in the table is the highest frequency among all radicals. The strokes in parentheses note the ways some radicals are written when acting as side components.

More Radicals From University of Oxford

Chinese words may look complicated, but in fact, their structures are logical and easy to analyze. Chinese characters are called “square” characters, meaning no matter how simple or complex, each character fits inside a square. They can be divided into four main structures. Once these four structures are mastered, the makeup of Chinese characters will be much more familiar and less intimating to you. These structures will help you memorize characters and reduce problems with missing dots or strokes when writing. Characters should be written with a sense of symmetry and proportion. A character can be formed as one-picture character, a two-picture character, a three-picture character, or a four-picture character. Understanding how to mentally plot out a character within a square will give you one of the fundamentals needed for effective written communication in Chinese.

One-picture Character Structure

Description: One-picture characters fit inside a square.

Format:

Examples:

Two-picture Character Structure

Description: Two-picture characters divide a square into two parts.

Formats:

Examples:

Surrounding Structures Formats:

Examples:

Three-picture Character Structure

Description: Three-picture characters divide a square into three parts.

Formats:

Examples:

Four-picture Character Structure

Description: Four-picture characters divide a square into four parts.

Formats:

Examples:

1. Look at the characters on the left and break them into basic strokes. So how many basic strokes does each character have? Write the answers on your notes.

2. Look at the characters left and rewrite them in correct stroke order. So what are the stroke order rules we use to write them? Write the answers on your notes.

3. Write the characters in correct stroke order in your notes.

Example:

4. Find and circle the 木 radical in the characters.

5. Classify the characters in your notes based on the radicals they contain.

6. Identify the radicals for characters on the left and copy the components onto your notes.

7. Draw structure types of characters on the left on your notes.

8. Classify characters on the left based on four structure types of and write your answers on your notes.