Basic strokes

A basic stroke is a single calligraphic mark moving in one direction across a writing surface. The following table lists a selection of basic strokes divided into two stroke groups: simple and combining. "Simple strokes" (such as Horizontal / Héng and Dot / Diǎn) can be written alone. "Combining strokes" (such as Bend / Zhé and Hook / Gōu) never occur alone, but must be paired with at least one other stroke forming a compound stroke. Thus, they are not in themselves individual strokes.

Table of basic strokes

English Name	Name in PRC (pinyin and simp.)	Name in ROC (pinyin and trad.)	Name in Japan	Name in Vietnam	CJK stroke	Meaning of Chinese name (Japanese name, if different)	Additional description
Simple strokes
Dot	Diǎn, 点	Diǎn, 點	Ten, 点	Chấm 枕		"Dot"	Tiny dash, speck.
Horizontal	Héng, 横	Héng, 橫	Yoko, 横	Sổ ngang 𬃈昂		"Horizontal"	Rightward stroke.
Vertical	Shù, 竖	Shù, 豎	Tate, 豎	Sổ dọc 𬃈𫆡		"Vertical"	Downward stroke.
Upward horizontal	Tí, 提	Tiāo, 挑	Hane, 跳	Hất 迄		"Rise" ("Jump")	Flick up and rightwards.
Press	Nà, 捺	Nà, 捺	(Migi) Harai, (右)払	Mác 莫		"Press down" ("(Right) Sweep")	Falling rightwards (fattening at the bottom).
Throw	Piě, 撇	Piě, 撇	(Hidari) Harai, (左)払	Phẩy 𢵪		"Throw away" ("(Left) Sweep")	Falling leftwards (with slight curve).
Combining strokes
Bend	Zhé, 折	Zhé, 折	Ore, 折	Gập 岋		"Bend, fold"	Indicates change in stroke direction, usually 90° turn, going down or going right only.
Hook	Gōu, 钩	Gōu, 鈎(鉤)	Kagi, 鉤	Móc 鈢		"Hook"	Appended to other strokes, suddenly sharp turning before crash stopping.
Clockwise curve	Wān, 弯	Wān, 彎	(Hidari) Sori, (左)反	Cong 𢏣		"Curve"	Tapering curved line, usually concave left (convex outward right).
Anticlockwise curve	Xié, 斜	Qū, 曲	(Migi) Sori, (右)反	Nghiêng 迎		"Slant"	Curved line, usually concave right (convex outward left).

Note, the basic stroke Diǎn "Dot" is rarely a real dot. Instead it usually takes the shape of a very small line pointing in one of several directions, and may be long enough to be confused with other strokes.

Compound strokes

Another classification showing 37 strokes: 8 basic strokes, and 29 complex strokes.^[1]

A compound stroke (also called a complex stroke) is produced when two or more basic strokes are combined in a single stroke written without lifting the writing instrument from the writing surface. The character 永 (pinyin: yǒng) "eternity", described in more detail in § Eight Principles of Yong, demonstrates one of these compound strokes. The centre line is a compound stroke that combines three stroke shapes in a single stroke.

Basics for making compound strokes^[2]

In most cases, concatenating basic strokes together form a compound stroke. For example, Vertical / Shù combined with Hook / Gōu produce (Vertical–Hook / Shù Gōu). A stroke naming convention sums the names of the basic strokes, in the writing order.

An exception to this applies when a stroke makes a strictly right-angle turn in the Simplified Chinese names. Horizontal (Héng) and Vertical (Shù) strokes are identified only once when they appear as the first stroke of a compound; any single stroke with successive 90° turns down or to the right are indicated by a Bend 折 (pinyin: zhé). For example, an initial Shù followed by an abrupt turn right produces (Shù Zhé). In the same way, an initial Shù followed by an abrupt turn right followed by a second turn down produces (Shù Zhé Zhé). However, their inherited names are "Vertical–Horizontal" and "Vertical–Horizontal–Vertical". We need not to use "Bend" in the inherited names.

Nearly all complex strokes can be named using this simple scheme.

Roman letter naming convention of Unicode standard

A naming convention is a classification scheme where a controlled vocabulary is used systematically to describe the characteristics of an item. The naming convention for a CJK stroke is derived from the path mark left by the writing instrument. In this instance roman letters are concatenated to form a stroke name as a sequence of one or more roman letters indicating the component strokes used to create the CJK stroke. The first letter of the Han radical’s pinyin pronunciation represents each basic stroke. In a basic stroke example, H represents the stroke named 横 (pinyin: Héng); in a compound example, HZT represents 横折提 (pinyin: Héng Zhé Tí).

While no consensus exists, there are up to 12 distinct basic strokes that are identified by a unique Han radical.

Letters commonly used in CJK stroke naming conventions (12 items)^[3]

Letter	B	D	G	H	N	P	Q	S	T	W	X	Z
Stroke direction
Simp./Trad.	扁	点/點	钩/鈎(鉤)	横/橫	捺	撇	圈	竖/豎	提	弯/彎	斜	折
Pinyin	Biǎn	Diǎn	Gōu	Héng	Nà	Piě	Quān	Shù	Tí	Wān	Xié	Zhé
Meaning	"Flat"	"Dot"	"Hook"	"Horizontal"	"Right-falling"	"Left-falling"	"Circle"	"Vertical"	"Rising"	"Curved"	"Slant"	"Bent"

There are many CJK compound strokes, however there is no consensus for sequence letter naming of compound strokes using the basic strokes. The following table demonstrates the CJK stroke naming convention:

Selected named CJK basic and compound strokes (41 items)

Stroke	Name in PRC	Abbr[3][4]	Full Name	Dictionary meaning and Note	Example characters	Encoding
	横	H	Héng	一 yī, "cardinal number one", "alone" (Radical 1 一).	二 三 丁 丞 丈 世 不 上 十 卅 七	U+31D0 (㇐)
	提	T	Tí		冰 淋 病 孑 治 冶 冽 暴 氾 录 地 虫	U+31C0 (㇀)
	横钩	HG	Héng Gōu	乛 wān, ya, zhé (折) turning stroke / to break (Radical: Variant form of 乙 yǐ).	疋 了 危 予 矛 子 字 令 疏 写 冖	U+31D6 (㇖)
	横撇	HP	Héng Piě		又 水 夕 径 炙 双 叒 今	U+31C7 (㇇)
	横折	HZ	Héng Zhé		口 囗 己 田 品 吕 申 甲 圆 巪	U+31D5 (㇕)
	横折钩	HZG	Héng Zhé Gōu	(Radical: Variant form of 乙 yǐ).	羽 习 包 勻 葡 用 青 甫 勺 月 也 乜	U+31C6 (㇆)
	横折提	HZT	Héng Zhé Tí		讠 计 鳩	U+31CA (㇊)
	横折折	HZZ	Héng Zhé Zhé		凹	U+31C5 (㇅)
	横折弯	HZW	Héng Zhé Wān		殳 投 朵	U+31CD (㇍)
	横折弯钩[3] (横斜钩[4])	HZWG[3] (HXG[4])	Héng Zhé Wān Gōu[3] (Héng Xié Gōu[4])	Unofficial name "HWG" is used by Hugo Lopez.[1]	飞 风 瘋 凬 虱 迅 气 九 几	U+31C8 (㇈)
	横斜弯钩[3] (横折弯钩[4])	HXWG[3] (HZWG[4])	Héng Xié Wān Gōu[3] (Héng Zhé Wān Gōu[4])	乙 yǐ, niè, "the second of the ten heavenly stems", "second"; zhé (折) turning stroke / to break (Radical 5 乙).	氹 乞 乤 艺	U+31E0 (㇠)
	横折折折	HZZZ	Héng Zhé Zhé Zhé		凸	U+31CE (㇎)
	横折折撇	HZZP	Héng Zhé Zhé Piě		建 及	U+31CB (㇋)
	横撇弯钩	HPWG	Héng Piě Wān Gōu		阝 队 邮	U+31CC (㇌)
	横折折折钩	HZZZG	Héng Zhé Zhé Zhé Gōu	𠄎 nǎi, archaic form of 乃 "then", "really, indeed", "namely", "you, your".	乃 孕 仍	U+31E1 (㇡)
	竖	S	Shù	丨 gě, gǔn, "vertical line" (Radical 2 丨).	丩 中 串 讧 乍 上 五 丑	U+31D1 (㇑)
	竖钩	SG	Shù Gōu	亅 jué, "a vertical line with a hook" (Radical 6 亅).	爭 事 求 水	U+31DA (㇚)
	竖提	ST	Shù Tí		以 比 切 卯 食 良 艮 很 狠 鄉 民	U+31D9 (㇙)
	竖折	SZ	Shù Zhé		断 陋 继 山 互 彙 牙 乐 东	U+31D7 (㇗)
	竖弯	SW	Shù Wān		區 亡 妄 四	U+31C4 (㇄)
	竖弯左	SWZ	Shù Wān Zuǒ		肅 嘯 蕭 簫	U+31D8 (㇘)
	竖弯钩	SWG	Shù Wān Gōu	乚 yǐn, "hidden", "mysterious", "small", usually read as 隱 / 隐 yǐn (Radical: Variant form of 乙 yǐ).	乱 己 已 巳	U+31DF (㇟)
	竖折折	SZZ	Shù Zhé Zhé		亞 鼎 卐 吳 专	U+31DE (㇞)
	竖折弯钩[3] (竖折折钩[4])	SZWG[3] (SZZG[4])	Shù Zhé Wān Gōu[3] (Shù Zhé Zhé Gōu[4])		亏 强 弓 丏 丐 与 马 鸟 丂 号	U+31C9 (㇉)
	撇	P	Piě	丿 usually read as 撇 piě, "line", "slash" (Radical 4 丿).	乂 爻 禾 毛 乏 乖 釆 衣 八 行	U+31D2 (㇒)
	竖撇	SP	Shù Piě		乃 月 用 齊 几 人 班 大	U+31D3 (㇓)
	撇钩	PG	Piě Gōu		乄	U+31E2 (㇢)
	撇折	PZ	Piě Zhé		弘 玄 公 厶 翁	U+31DC (㇜)
	撇点	PD	Piě Diǎn	𡿨 quǎn, a little drain between fields, usually read as 畎 quǎn (Radical 47 巛).	女 巛 巡 獵 災 甾	U+31DB (㇛)
	点	D	Diǎn	丶 zhǔ, "dot", usually read as 點 / 点 diǎn (Radical 3 丶).	丸 叉 义 永 冰 凡 丹 主 求 火 刃	U+31D4 (㇔)
	捺	N	Nà	㇏ usually read as 捺 nà.	大 人 天 入 走 边 廷 尺	U+31CF (㇏)
	提捺	TN	Tí Nà	(1) 乀 fú, "stretch". (2) 乁 yí, "to move" (archaic).	尐 之 道 八 入 廻	U+31DD (㇝)
	斜钩	XG	Xié Gōu		戈 弋 戰 我	U+31C2 (㇂)
	扁斜钩	BXG	Biǎn Xié Gōu		心 必 沁 惢 蕊	U+31C3 (㇃)
	弯钩	WG	Wān Gōu		狐 狱 豹 家 啄 嶽 貓 家 逐	U+31C1 (㇁)
	圈	Q	Quān	〇 líng, "zero"; also read as 圈 quān, "circle". Rare.	〇 㔔 㪳 㫈	U+31E3 (㇣)

Besides, some strokes have been unified or abandoned in Unicode:

CJK basic and compound strokes which have been unified or abandoned

Stroke	Name in PRC	Abbr	Full Name	Note	Example characters
	横撇弯	HPW[1]	Héng Piě Wān	It only appears in Regular script, can be merged into stroke HPHP in Song typeface.	辶 过 边
	竖折撇	SZP[4]	Shù Zhé Piě	This stroke has been merged into stroke SZZ in Unicode.[5]	专 𧦮 𤓷 𤦡
	竖折折弯钩	SZZWG[1]	Shù Zhé Zhé Wān Gōu	This stroke has been merged into stroke SZZG in Unicode.[5]	弓 丐
	弯	W[1]	Wān	It never occurs alone, only appears inside compound strokes.	辶 豕 𢀓
	弯钩	WG[1]	Wān Gōu	It never occurs alone, only appears inside compound strokes.	乙
	点捺	DN[4]	Diǎn Nà	This stroke has been merged into stroke TN or N in Unicode.[5]	內 全 廴
	平捺	PN[4]	Píng Nà	This stroke has been merged into stroke N in Unicode.[5]	是 走 廴
	提平捺	TPN[4]	Tí Píng Nà	This stroke has been merged into stroke N in Unicode.[5]	辶 之 辷

Note that some names in the list do not follow the rules of controlled vocabulary. For example, stroke P (Piě) is not found in the compound stroke PN. The name "PN" comes from 平捺 (pinyin: Píng Nà), not 撇捺 (pinyin: Piě Nà). The meaning of 平 (pinyin: Píng) is "flat", and it should be called "BN" 扁捺 (pinyin: Biǎn Nà) if the rules are to be followed closely. The letter "Z" in stroke SWZ means 左 (pinyin: Zuǒ), not 折 (pinyin: Zhé). The meaning of 左 is "left", and it is not defined in the naming convention. Moreover, some 折 (pinyin: Zhé) strokes are far more than or far less than 90°, such as stroke HZZZG, stroke HZZP and stroke PZ.

Some strokes are not included in the Unicode standard, such as , , , , , , etc.

In Simplified Chinese, stroke TN is usually written as (It was called "stroke DN", but Unicode has rejected it^[5]).

Abbreviated naming conventions

On the other hand, naming conventions that use abbreviated forms of the CJK strokes also exist. After the names of CJK strokes are translated into English, first letters of the English names are used in the naming system. The controlled vocabulary can be divided into two groups.

The first group is the abbreviated forms of the basic strokes.

Abbreviation form of the basic strokes (10 items)

Abbr form	H	V	T	P	D	U	C	A	J	O
Shape of stroke
English name	Horizontal	Vertical	Throw	Press	Dot	Upward horizontal	Clockwise curve	Anticlockwise curve	J hook	Oval
Chinese name	橫	豎	撇	捺	點	挑	彎	曲	鈎	圈

The second group is the abbreviated forms of deformations.

Abbreviation form of the deformations (10 items)

Abbr form	F	W	S	L	R	E	N	I	M	Z
Deformation
English name	Flat	Wilted	Slanted	Left	Right	Extended	Narrowed	Inverted	Mirrored	Zag
Chinese name	扁	直	斜	左	右	長	短	倒	反	折

“Zig” can be omitted in the naming system. The following table demonstrates the CJK stroke naming convention:

Inherited names of CJK basic and compound strokes (63 items)

Stroke		Chinese name	Abbr form	Full name	Name in Unicode	Example
Ming	Kai
		橫	H	Horizontal	H	三 言 隹 花
		斜橫	SH	Slanted Horizontal	(H)	七 弋 宅 戈
		挑	U	Upward horizontal	T	刁 求 虫 地
		點挑	DU	Dot – Upward horizontal	(T)	冰 冷 汗 汁
		豎	V	Vertical	S	十 圭 川 仆
		斜豎	SV	Slanted Vertical	(S)	丑 五 亙 貫
		右斜豎	RSV	Right Slanted Vertical	(S)	𠙴
		撇	T	Throw	P	竹 大 乂 勿
		扁撇	FT	Flat Throw	(P)	千 乏 禾 斤
		直撇	WT	Wilted Throw	SP	九 厄 月 几
		點	D	Dot	D	主 卜 夕 凡
		長點	ED	Extended Dot	(D)	囪 囟 这 凶
		左點	LD	Left Dot	(D)	心 忙 恭 烹
		直點	WD	Wilted Dot	(D)	六 文 宇 空
		捺	P	Press	N	人 木 尺 冬
		挑捺	UP	Upward horizontal – Press	TN	文 廴 父 爻
		橫捺	HP	Horizontal – Press	(TN)	入 八 內 全
		扁捺	FP	Flat Press	(N)	走 足 廴 麵
		挑扁捺	UFP	Upward horizontal – Flat Press	(TN)	之 乏 巡 迴
		彎	C	Clockwise curve	W
		曲	A	Anticlockwise curve	X
		圈	O	Oval	Q	〇 㔔 㪳 㫈
		橫鈎	HJ	Horizontal – J hook	HG	冧 欠 冝 蛋
		挑鈎	UJ	Upward horizontal – J hook	(HG)	也 乜 池 馳
		橫撇	HT	Horizontal – Throw	HP	夕 水 登 令
		橫斜	HSV	Horizontal – Slanted Vertical	(HP)	今 彔 互 恆
		橫豎	HV	Horizontal – Vertical	HZ	口 己 臼 典
		橫豎鈎	HVJ	Horizontal – Vertical – J hook	HZG	而 永 印 令
		橫撇鈎	HTJ	Horizontal – Throw – J hook	(HZG)	勺 方 力 母
		挑撇鈎	UTJ	Upward horizontal – Throw – J hook	(HZG)	也 乜 池 馳
		橫豎橫	HVH	Horizontal – Vertical – Horizontal	HZZ	凹 兕 卍 雋
		橫豎挑	HVU	Horizontal – Vertical – Upward horizontal	HZT	殼 鸠 说 计
		橫曲	HA	Horizontal – Anticlockwise curve	HZW	朵 沿 殳 没
		橫曲鈎	HAJ	Horizontal – Anticlockwise curve – J hook	HZWG	九 几 凡 亢
		橫捺鈎	HPJ	Horizontal – Press – J hook	(HZWG)	風 迅 飛 凰
		橫撇曲鈎	HTAJ	Horizontal – Throw – Anticlockwise curve – J hook	HXWG	乙 氹 乞 乭
		橫撇彎	HTC	Horizontal – Throw – Clockwise curve	---	過 过 這 这
		橫撇橫撇	HTHT	Horizontal – Throw – Horizontal – Throw	HZZP	延 建 巡 及
		橫撇彎鈎	HTCJ	Horizontal – Throw – Clockwise curve – J hook	HPWG	陳 陌 那 耶
		橫豎橫豎	HVHV	Horizontal – Vertical – Horizontal – Vertical	HZZZ	凸 𡸭 𠱂 𢫋
		橫撇橫撇鈎	HTHTJ	Horizontal – Throw – Horizontal – Throw – J hook	HZZZG	乃 孕 仍 盈
		豎挑	VU	Vertical – Upward horizontal	ST	卬 氏 衣 比
		豎橫	VH	Vertical – Horizontal	SZ	山 世 匡 直
		豎曲	VA	Vertical – Anticlockwise curve	SW	區 亡 四 匹
		豎曲鈎	VAJ	Vertical – Anticlockwise curve – J hook	SWG	孔 已 亂 也
		豎橫豎	VHV	Vertical – Horizontal – Vertical	SZZ	鼎 亞 吳 卐
		豎橫撇	VHT	Vertical – Horizontal – Throw	(SZZ)	奊 捑 𠱐 𧦮
		豎橫撇鈎	VHTJ	Vertical – Horizontal – Throw – J hook	SZWG	弓 弟 丐 弱
		豎鈎	VJ	Vertical – J hook	SG	小 水 到 寸
		豎彎	VC	Vertical – Clockwise curve	SWZ	肅 嘯 蕭 瀟
		豎彎鈎	VCJ	Vertical – Clockwise curve – J hook	---	𨙨 𨛜 𨞠 𨞰
		撇挑	TU	Throw – Upward horizontal	PZ	去 公 玄 鄉
		撇橫	TH	Throw – Horizontal	(SZ)	互 母 牙 车
		撇點	TD	Throw – Dot	PD	巡 兪 巢 粼
		直撇點	WTD	Wilted Throw – Dot	(PD)	女 如 姦 㜢
		撇橫撇	THT	Throw – Horizontal – Throw	(SZZ)	夨 𠨮 专 砖
		撇橫撇鈎	THTJ	Throw – Horizontal – Throw – J hook	(SZWG)	巧 亟 污 號
		撇鈎	TJ	Throw – J hook	PG	乄
		彎鈎	CJ	Clockwise curve – J hook	WG	狗 豸 豕 象
		扁捺鈎	FPJ	Flat Press – J hook	BXG	心 必 沁 厯
		捺鈎	PJ	Press – J hook	XG	弋 戈 我 銭
		撇橫撇曲鈎	THTAJ	Throw – Horizontal – Throw – Anticlockwise curve – J hook	---	𠃉 𦲳 𦴱 鳦
		撇圈點	TOD	Throw – Oval – Dot	---	𡧑 𡆢

Numbering scheme

A numbering scheme is a categorisation method where similar strokes are grouped into categories labeled by nominal numbers. Category numbering may be an index of numbers of types, with sub-types indicated by a decimal point followed by another number or a letter.^[4]

The following table is a common numbering scheme that uses similar names as the Roman letter naming convention, but the stroke forms are grouped into major category types (1 to 5), which further break down into 25 sub-types in category 5.

Example of a CJK stroke numbering scheme (33 items)^[6]

Type No. Stroke Name (simplified Chinese and pinyin) Horizontal (一) 1 1 横 Héng 1.1 提 Tí Vertical (丨) 2 2 竖 Shù 2.1 竖钩 Shù Gōu Slash (丿) 3 3 撇 Piě Dot (丶) 4 4 点 Diǎn 4.1 捺 Nà 4.2 提捺 Tí Nà

Type No. Stroke Name (simplified Chinese and pinyin) Turning stroke (折 Zhé = right angle turn) or (弯 Wān = curve turn) 5 5.1 横折 Héng Zhé 5.2 横撇 Héng Piě 5.3 横钩 Héng Gōu 5.4 竖折 Shù Zhé 5.5 竖弯 Shù Wān 5.6 竖提 Shù Tí 5.7 撇折 Piě Zhé 5.8 撇点 Piě Diǎn 5.9 撇钩 Piě Gōu 5.10 弯钩 Wān Gōu 5.11 斜钩 Xié Gōu 5.12 横折折 Héng Zhé Zhé 5.13 横折弯 Héng Zhé Wān 5.14 横折提 Héng Zhé Tí 5.15 横折钩 Héng Zhé Gōu 5.16 横斜钩 Héng Xié Gōu 5.17 竖折折 Shù Zhé Zhé 5.18 竖折撇 Shù Zhé Piě 5.19 竖弯钩 Shù Wān Gōu 5.20 横折折折 Héng Zhé Zhé Zhé 5.21 横折折撇 Héng Zhé Zhé Piě 5.22 横折弯钩 Héng Zhé Wān Gōu 5.23 横撇弯钩 Héng Piě Wān Gōu 5.24 竖折折钩 Shù Zhé Zhé Gōu 5.25 横折折折钩 Héng Zhé Zhé Zhé Gōu

Some strokes are not included in the numbering scheme, such as stroke , , , , , , , , etc.

Besides, there are ways of grouping strokes that are different from the Unicode standard. For example, stroke is merged into stroke in Unicode system, while it is merged into in this numbering scheme.

Stroke-count sorting

This method arranges characters according to their numbers of strokes ascendingly. A character with less strokes is put before those of more strokes. For example, the different characters in "汉字笔画, 漢字筆劃" (Chinese character strokes) are sorted into "汉(5)字(6)画(8)笔(10)[筆(12)畫(12)]漢(14)", where stroke counts are put in brackets. Please note that both 筆 and 畫 are of 12 strokes and their order is not determined by stroke-count sorting.

Stroke-order sorting

The characters are firstly arranged by their first strokes according to an order of stroke groups (such as “heng (横), shu (竖), pie (撇), dian(点), zhe (折)”, or “dian(点), heng (横), shu (竖), pie (撇), zhe (折)”), then the characters with first strokes belonging to the same group, if any, are sorted by their second strokes in a similar way, and so on. This method is usually employed to support stroke-count sorting to deal with characters of the same stroke number. For instance, 筆(12) starts with stroke ㇓of the pie (撇) group, and 畫(12) starts with ㇕ of the zhe (折) group, and pie is before zhe in groups order, so 筆 goes before 畫.

Stroke-count-stroke-order sorting

This is a combination of the previous two methods. Characters are arranged by stroke-count, followed by stroke-order. For example, the different characters in "汉字笔画, 漢字筆劃" (Chinese character strokes) are sorted into "汉(5)字(6)画(8)笔(10)筆(12)畫(12)漢(14)", where each character is put at a unique position.

In China, stroke-based sorting normally refers to stroke-count-stroke-order sorting. The Chinese national standard stroke-based sorting is in fact an enhanced stroke-count-stroke-order method ^[7]

YES sorting

YES is a simplified stroke-based sorting method free of stroke counting and grouping, without comprise in accuracy. And it has been successfully applied to the indexing of all the characters in Xinhua Zidian (新华字典) and Xiandai Hanyu Cidian (现代汉语词典). In this joint index you can look up the Pinyin and Unicode of a Chinese character, in addition to its page numbers in the two popular dictionaries.^[8]