Character Strokes - Foundation

Question 1

How many foundational strokes are there in any given character?

Answer 1

Chinese characters are made up of simple single strokes, all of them variations of only eight basic ones. All strokes have their own name and are written according to a few rules. It’s very important to learn to recognize them, since the number of strokes in a character is often the easiest way to find it in an index

Question 2

What is the first foundational stroke?

Answer 2

heng2

horizontal stroke (written from left to right) as in the character yi1 “one”

Question 3

What is the second foundational stroke?

Answer 3

shu

vertical stroke (written from top to bottom) as in the character shi2 “ten”

Question 4

What is the third foundational stroke?

Answer 4

pie3

down stroke to the left (written from top right to bottom left) as in the character ba1 “eight”

Question 5

What is the fourth foundational stroke?

Answer 5

na4

down stroke to the right (written from top left to bottom right) as in the character ru4 “to enter”

Question 6

What is the fifth foundational stroke?

Answer 6

dian3

dot (written from top to bottom right or left) as in the character liu4 “six”

Question 7

What is the sixth foundational stroke?

Answer 7

ti2

upward stroke (written from bottom left to top right) as in the character ba3 “to grasp”

Question 8

Does the seventh foundational stroke have several variations?

Answer 8

The seventh foundational stroke has five different variations, composed of a stroke with a hook.

Question 9

What is the first variation of the seventh foundational stroke?

Answer 9

heng2gou1

horizontal stroke with a hook as in the character zi3 “character”

Question 10

What is the second variation of the seventh foundational stroke?

Answer 10

shu4gou1

vertical stroke with a hook as in the character xiao3 “small”

Question 11

What is the third variation of the seventh foundational stroke?

Answer 11

wan1gou1

bending stroke with a hook as in the character gou3 “dog”

Question 12

What is the fourth variation of the seventh foundational stroke?

Answer 12

xie2gou1

slant stroke with a hook as in the character wo3 “I, me”

Question 13

What is the fifth variation of the seventh foundational stroke?

Answer 13

ping2gou1

level bending stroke with a hook as in the character wang4 “to forget”

Question 14

What is the eighth fundamental stroke?

Answer 14

a stroke with a turn - two variations

Question 15

What is the first variation of the eighth fundamental stroke?

Answer 15

shu4zhe2

vertical stroke with a horizontal turn to the right as in the character yi1 “doctor, medicine”

Question 16

What is the second variation of the eighth fundamental stroke?

Answer 16

heng2zhe2

horizontal stroke with a vertical turn as in the character kou3 “mouth”

Question 17

Can fundamental strokes be combined to form simple combined strokes?

Answer 17

Yes, 3 major variations

Question 18

What is the first variation of a combined stroke?

Answer 18

shu4wan2gou1

vertical stroke combined with a level bending stroke with a hook as in the character ye3 “also”

Question 19

What is the second variation of a combined stroke?

Answer 19

pie3dian3

down stroke to the left combined with a dot as in the character nu3 “woman”

Question 20

What is the third variation of a combined stroke?

Answer 20

shu4zhe2zhe2gou1

vertical stroke with a double turn and a hook as in the character ma3 “horse”