Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

The chIneSe wrITIng SySTeM: An OvervIew

3.4

3.4 character stroke order: 笔顺/筆順 bHshùn

3.4.1 basic rules of stroke order

Each Chinese character contains a precise number of strokes written in a fixed order. Below

are the basic rules of stroke order for the writing of Chinese characters.

Rule Example

1 Horizontal (横 héng) precedes vertical (竖/豎 shù). 十

2 Left falling stroke (撇 piě) precedes right falling stroke (捺 nà). 人

3 First top, then bottom. 三

4 First left, then right. 他

5 First outside, then inside. 月

6 First complete the inside of a box, then seal the box. 日

7 First center, then sides. 小

8 First horizontal (横 héng), then left falling stroke (撇 piě), then right falling

stroke (捺 nà).

大

3.4.2 Special stroke order rules

Rule Example

1 Write the dot (点/點 diǎn) last if it is positioned at the top right corner of a

character.

我

2 Write the dot (点/點 diǎn) last if it is positioned inside a character. 太

3 If the character includes the curved left-falling stroke (横折撇/橫摺撇 héng

zhé piě) and one other component, write the curved left-falling stroke last.

建

4 If the character consists of more than one horizontal stroke (横 héng) and

vertical stroke (竖/豎 shù), write the vertical stroke first, and the horizontal

stroke at the bottom last.

上

5 If a character has a horizontal stroke (横 héng) in the middle, write the

horizontal stroke last.

女