Writing • Stroke Order
Chinese Character Stroke Order Examples
Part 3: Body, Actions & Everyday Life
Stroke order is not arbitrary — it follows six core rules developed over thousands of years to make handwriting faster and more consistent. Each animation below shows the correct stroke sequence for 12 fundamental characters used in everyday Mandarin.
12 Characters — Animated Stroke Order
Each character loops automatically. Watch the red strokes appear in order — this is the sequence you should follow when writing by hand.
人
rén
person, people
2 strokes
One of the simplest characters — two strokes forming a standing figure.
心
xīn
heart, mind
4 strokes
A heart radical (忄) appears in hundreds of emotion-related characters.
手
shǒu
hand
4 strokes
The hand radical (扌) appears in characters for actions done by hand.
口
kǒu
mouth, opening
3 strokes
Square shape — draw three strokes in correct order: down, across bottom, seal right side.
目
mù
eye
5 strokes
Represents an eye turned on its side. The inner horizontal strokes go left to right.
学
xué
study, learn
8 strokes
A key character for language learners — the top component means 'to receive instruction'.
写
xiě
write
5 strokes
Simplified form. The top stroke is a cover radical (冖), followed by the phonetic component.
说
shuō
speak, say
9 strokes
Left side is the speech radical 讠— present in all characters related to language.
读
dú
read, study
10 strokes
Also has the speech radical 讠— reading is a form of voicing language.
朋
péng
friend
8 strokes
Two moon (月) characters side by side — friends are like two moons together.
家
jiā
home, family
10 strokes
A pig (豕) under a roof (宀) — historically, a home with livestock meant prosperity.
中
zhōng
middle, China
4 strokes
A vertical line through the centre of a rectangle — visually depicts 'the middle'.
Video Lesson
The Six Stroke Order Rules
These rules apply to every Chinese character. Memorise them once and stroke order becomes mostly predictable.
Write upper strokes before lower ones.
e.g. 三 (three horizontal lines)
Write left strokes before right ones.
e.g. 川 (river)
Draw the horizontal line first when strokes cross.
e.g. 十 (ten)
Write the enclosing frame before the inner content.
e.g. 日 (sun/day)
For symmetric characters, write the middle stroke first.
e.g. 小 (small)
Close a box shape with the bottom stroke last.
e.g. 口 (mouth)