this book, you will find that Chinese characters, such as 吗, 吃, 妈, 她, the口 and 女 are called radicals. You may wonder how or why a single character, such as 口 or 女, can become a radical. The answer is this: When compound characters are composed of two single characters, one of those characters becomes the radical. You can see it here in 吗, 吃, 妈, and 她.
Radicals, such as 口 and 女 keep their original single character form, but their shape may be narrowed or shortened. Many character components are distorted or changed in order to fit within the block shape alongside other characters. Some words or characters may take on a different shape completely. For example,
人 turns to 亻as a radical for 你, 他, and 们.
言 changes to 讠as a radical for 说, 话, and 读.
水 becomes 氵as a radical for 沙, 河, and 湖.
These are only a few examples to give you a general idea.
For many years, Chinese dictionaries have contained more than 200 radicals. You will easily be able to memorize the list of commonly used radicals offered here. They appear often in this book.
Some Commonly Used Chinese Radicals
Chinese radicals appear in various positions within the word or character. Some radicals appear on the left side of the character 你, 他, 们, while other radicals appear on the right side of the character 都, 那, 邓. Some radicals appear at the top of a character 茶, 菜, 花, while other radicals appear at the bottom of a character 名, 合, 右. In general, semantic components tend to appear at the top or on the left side of character, while phonetic components tend to appear at the bottom or on the right side of character. As you learn more Chinese characters, you will learn to recognize the radicals in their various positions. Recognizing the radicals will also help you increase your vocabulary quickly.
The Strokes of Chinese Characters
汉字的笔画
When you use a pencil, pen or brush to draw pictures, you draw lines, circles or curves, one step at a time. When you use a pencil, pen or brush to write Chinese characters, you make lines, dots or hooks, one step at a time. The principles for drawing pictures and writing Chinese characters are very much the same. Far from being complicated, Chinese characters are simple drawings made from simple strokes. There are about thirty strokes in all. Among them are eight basic strokes that form the core and are used most often. All strokes have their own name and particular method of formation.
See the table below containing the eight basic strokes and how to form them.
Eight Basic Strokes and Method of Formation
Learn to recognize and become familiar with each individual stroke, its name, writing direction and correct formation are all important. Whether the character is simple or complex, comprised of just a few strokes or many, the construction of each Chinese character relies heavily upon correct stroke formation. By focusing on the individual strokes, you will also be memorizing the character.
Stroke Order and Rules
笔画顺序规则
Throughout the years, rules have developed for writing Chinese characters. These rules help in learning the correct formation of characters. It doesn’t matter whether you are right handed or left handed. If you follow the rules for stroke order, you will be able to write beautiful Chinese characters.
Here are the main stroke order rules for forming Chinese characters. These general rules will help you to understand more specific stroke order rules later on.
1) Stroke from top to bottom
| 号 | number | page 11 |
| 票 | ticket | page 101 |
2) Stroke from left to right
| 但 | but | page 82 |
| 眼 | eye | page 108 |
3) Stroke from the horizontal before vertical
| 正 | positive | page 54 |
| 报 | report | page 99 |
4) Stroke from the horizontal before the down stroke to the left
| 左 | left | page 45 |
| 右 | right | page 45 |
5) Stroke from the down stroke to left before to the right
| 从 | from | page 72 |
| 服 | clothing | page 56 |
6) The enclosing strokes first, then the enclosed and finally the sealing stroke
| 因 | cause | page 62 |
| 国 | country | page 88 (Vol 1) |
7) The dot on the top or left first
| 弟 | younger brother | page 18 |
| 牛 | cow | page 26 |
8) Inside stroke before side stroke
| 远 | far | page 70 |
| 近 | near | page 70 |
Following these simple rules will help you write any character you desire. Just remember to form the strokes correctly and in the right order from the very start. Otherwise you will find yourself repeating the same mistakes without knowing it. Correct stroke formation and stroke order will become more critical as your Chinese characters become more complex.
The Philosophy of Writing Chinese Characters
书写汉字的哲学
What is the philosophy behind writing Chinese characters? The philosophy can be summed up in one simple word: Balance!
Balance means, the writer needs to remain calm in emotion and thought, focused on the character and follow the rules of stroke formation and stroke order. Remember to place the strokes evenly throughout left to right, top to bottom, outside to inside, inside to outside, etc.
Take a look at these characters:
山, 水 and 朋 are balanced from left to right;
早, 果 and 召 are balanced from and top to bottom;
国, 园 and 围 are balanced from outside to inside.
Each character appears to be accurate, well balanced and will look beautiful on paper.
Imagine drawing a person with a big head and small legs. Or a person with one arm longer than the other. The drawing would not look right. It would not look good. It might even look as though the picture could tip over or fall down. In any case, it would not look balanced. In that same way, if you write a character with longer strokes on the left and shorter strokes on the right, it won’t look balanced either. It won’t look accurate. It won’t look good on paper. For example, look at the character 山—shān—“mountain.” The center stroke is the longest, which represents the top of the mountain. Both sides contain vertical strokes which are the same in length. Thus, the character 山 is balanced. It looks accurate. It looks good on paper. If the left
