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{{Английская Википедия/Панель перехода}}
{{Short description|Logographic writing system}}
{{redirect|Hanzi|the Chinese philosopher also known as 'Hanzi'|Han Fei|the anthology attributed to him|Han Feizi}}
{{redirect|Chinese character|the moth species|Cilix glaucata}}

{{EngvarB|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}

{{Infobox writing system
|name      = Chinese characters
|type      = Logographic
|languages = {{cslist|class=inline|[[Chinese languages|Chinese]]|[[Japanese language|Japanese]]|[[Korean language|Korean]]|[[Ryukyuan languages|Ryukyuan]]|[[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]|[[Zhuang languages|Zhuang]]|[[Miao languages|Miao]]|[[Hachijō language|Hachijō]]}}''{{midsizediv|([[Chinese family of scripts|among others]])}}''
|time      = {{circa|13th century BCE}}{{snd}}present
|fam1      = ([[Proto-writing]])
|fam2      = [[Oracle bone script]]
|children  = {{cslist|[[Bopomofo]]|[[Kana]]|[[Yi script]]|[[Khitan small script]]|[[Nüshu]]|[[Jurchen script]]|[[Tangut script]]}}
|unicode   = {{ubl|[https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U4E00.pdf U+4E00–U+9FFF]{{br}}CJK Unified Ideographs{{br}}(most common)}}{{hr}}
''([[CJK Unified Ideographs#CJK Unified Ideographs blocks|full list]])''
|iso15924  = Hani
|direction = {{ubl|Left-to-right (modern)|Top-to-bottom, columns right-to-left ([[horizontal and vertical writing in East Asian scripts|historical]]){{efn|Some Chinese-language works are still printed with vertical layouts, but this is increasingly uncommon.}}}}
}}

{{Infobox Chinese
| pic = Hanzi.svg
| piccap = {{transliteration|zh|Hànzì}} ('Chinese character') written in [[traditional Chinese characters|traditional]] (left) and [[simplified Chinese characters|simplified]] (right) forms
| picupright = 0.5
| t = 漢字
| s = 汉字
| l = "[[Han Chinese|Han]] characters"
| p = hànzì
| w = han<sup>4</sup>-tzu<sup>4</sup>
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|h|an|4|.|zi|4}}
| bpmf = ㄏㄢˋ ㄗˋ
| gr = Hanntzyh
| xej = خًازِ
| j = hon<sup>3</sup>-zi<sup>6</sup>
| y = hon-jih
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|h|on|3|.|z|i|6}}
| gan = hon<sup>5</sup>-ci<sup>5</sup>
| h = hon<sup>55</sup> sii<sup>55</sup>
| poj = hàn-jī
| tl = hàn-jī
| teo = hang<sup>3</sup> ri<sup>7</sup>
| buc = háng-cê
| mc = xan<sup>C</sup>dzɨ<sup>C</sup>
| lmz = {{IPA|[høz]}}
| hiragana = かんじ
| kanji = 漢字
| revhep = kanji
| kunrei = kanzi
| khm = តួអក្សរចិន
| th = อักษรจีน
| hanja = 漢字
| hangul = 한자
| rr = hanja
| mr = hancha
| qn = chữ Hán<br />chữ Nho<br />Hán tự
| chuhan = 漢字
| hn = 𡨸漢<br />𡨸儒
| zha = {{plainlist|
* 𭨡倱<ref>{{Cite book |publisher=Guangxi Nationalities Publishing House |year=1989 |isbn=978-7-5363-0614-1 |editor=((广西壮族自治区少数民族古籍整理出版规划领导小组 [Central Leadership Planning Group for the Organization and Publication of Early Written Materials of Guangxi Zhuang Ethnic Minority Autonomous Region])) <!-- Guǎngxī Zhuàngzú zìzhìqū shǎoshù mínzú gǔjí zhěnglǐ chūbǎn guīhuà lǐngdǎo xiǎozǔ --> |edition=2nd |location=Nanning |language=zh |script-title=zh:古壮字字典 |trans-title=Dictionary of the Old Zhuang Script}}</ref>
* Sawgun
}}
| order = st
| katakana = カンジ
| tp = hàn-zìh
}}

{{Chinese characters sidebar}}

'''Chinese characters'''{{efn|{{hani|漢字}}; [[simplified characters|simplified]] as {{lang|und-Hans|汉字}}.{{pb}}Chinese {{zh|p=hànzì|w=han4 tzŭ4|j=hon3 zi6}}.{{pb}}Japanese [[rōmaji]]: {{transl|ja|kanji}}; [[Korean romanization]]: {{transl|ko|hanja}}; {{lang-vi|Hán tự}}.}} are [[logograph]]s used [[Written Chinese|to write the Chinese languages]] and others from regions historically influenced by [[Chinese culture]]. Chinese characters have a documented history spanning over three millennia, representing one of the four independent inventions of writing accepted by scholars; of these, they comprise the only writing system continuously used since its invention. Over time, the function, style, and means of writing characters have evolved greatly. Informed by a long tradition of [[lexicography]], modern states using Chinese characters have standardised their forms and pronunciations: broadly, [[simplified characters]] are used to write Chinese in [[mainland China]], [[Singapore]], and [[Malaysia]], while [[traditional Chinese characters|traditional characters]] are used in [[Taiwan]], [[Hong Kong]], and [[Macau]].

After being introduced in order to write [[Literary Chinese]], characters were later adapted to write the languages spoken in other countries throughout the [[Sinosphere]]. In [[Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Korean language|Korean]], and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]], Chinese characters are known as [[kanji]], [[hanja]], and {{langr|vi|[[chữ Hán]]}} respectively. Each of these countries used existing characters to write both native and [[Sino-Xenic]] vocabulary, and created new characters for their own use. These languages each belong to separate [[language families]], and generally function differently from Chinese. This has contributed to Chinese characters largely being replaced with [[alphabets]] in Korean and Vietnamese, leaving Japanese as the only major non-Chinese language still written with Chinese characters.

Unlike in alphabets, where letters correspond to a language's units of sound, called ''[[phonemes]]''—Chinese characters correspond to ''[[morphemes]]'', a language's smallest units of meaning. Writing systems that function this way are known as ''[[logography|logographies]]''. In Chinese, morphemes are usually single syllables, characters may represent multi-syllable words when writing other languages.{{efn|There are exceptions to these general correspondences, including {{article section|Polysyllabic morphemes|morphemes with several characters}}, syllables written with multiple characters, particles and affixes lacking strong independent meaning, and multiple syllables written with a single character.{{sfn|Mair|2011}}}} Characters are {{em|not}} [[ideographic]], as they correspond to spoken morphemes, but not to the abstracted ideas themselves. Most characters are made of smaller components that may provide information regarding the character's meaning or pronunciation.

== Development ==
{{Further|Proto-writing|History of writing}}
{{See also|Ideograph|Rebus}}
Chinese characters are accepted as representing one of four independent inventions of writing in human history.{{efn|Zev Handel lists:{{sfn|Handel|2019|p=1}} {{olist|Sumerian [[cuneiform]] emerging {{circa|3200 BCE}}|[[Egyptian hieroglyphs]] emerging {{circa|3100 BCE}}|Chinese characters emerging {{circa|13th century BCE}}|[[Maya script]] emerging around 2000 years [[before present]]}}}} According to [[Qiu Xigui]], in each instance writing  evolved from a system using two distinct types of ''[[ideographs]]''. Ideographs could either be ''pictographs'' visually depicting objects or concepts, or fixed [[sign (semiotics)|''signs'']] representing concepts only by shared convention. These systems are classified as ''[[proto-writing]]'', because the techniques they used were insufficient to carry the meaning of spoken language by themselves.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|p=2}}

Qiu notes various innovations that were required for Chinese characters to emerge from proto-writing. Firstly, pictographs became distinct from simple pictures in use and appearance: for example, the pictograph {{hani|大}}, meaning 'large', was originally a picture of a large man, but one would need to be aware of its specific meaning in order to interpret the sequence {{hani|大鹿}} as signifying 'large deer', rather than being a picture of a large man and a deer next to one another. Due to this process of abstraction, as well as to make characters easier to write, pictographs gradually became more simplified and regularized—often to the extent that the original objects represented are no longer obvious.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=3–4}}

The limitations of this system compelled an innovation which allowed spoken language to be encoded directly in the written symbols.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|p=5}} In each historical case, this was accomplished by some form of the [[rebus]] technique, where the symbol for a word is used to indicate a different word with a similar pronunciation, depending on context. This allowed for words that lacked a plausible pictographic representation to be written down for the first time. This technique, called ''jiajie'' ({{zhi|c=假借}}) in Chinese, pre-empted more sophisticated methods of character creation that would further expand the lexicon. The process whereby writing emerged from proto-writing took place over a long period; when the purely pictorial use of symbols disappeared, leaving only those representing spoken words, the process was complete.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|p=11}}

== Classification ==
{{Main|Chinese character classification}}
Chinese characters have been used in several different ''writing systems'' throughout history. The concept of a writing system includes the written symbols that are used, called ''[[graphemes]]''—these may include characters, numerals, or punctuation—as well as the rules by which the graphemes are used to record language.{{sfnm|1a1=Qiu|1y=2000|1p=1|2a1=Handel|2y=2019|2pp=4–5}} Chinese characters are ''[[logographs]]'', graphemes that denote [[word]]s or [[morpheme]]s of the language. Writing systems that use logographs are called ''logographies'', as contrasted with [[alphabets]] and [[syllabaries]], where graphemes correspond to the phonetic units in a language.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=13–15}} In special cases, characters may correspond to non-morphemic syllables; due to this, written Chinese is often characterised as ''[[morphosyllabic]]''.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=22–26}}{{efn|According to Handel: "While monosyllabism generally trumps morphemicity—that is to say, a bisyllabic morpheme is nearly always written with two characters rather than one—there is an unmistakable tendency for script users to impose a morphemic identity on the linguistic units represented by these characters."{{sfn|Handel|2019|p=33}}}}

The Sinosphere has a long tradition of lexicography attempting to explain and refine the use of characters; for most of history, analysis revolved around a model first popularised in the 2nd-century ''Shuowen Jiezi'' dictionary.{{sfnm|1a1=Handel|1y=2019|1p=51|2a1=Yong|2a2=Peng|2y=2008|2pp=33–37}} Newer models have since appeared, often attempting to describe both the methods by which characters were created, the characteristics of their structures, and the way they presently function.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=19, 162–168}}

=== Structural analysis ===
Most characters can be analysed structurally as ''compounds'' made of smaller ''components'' ({{zhi|c=偏旁|p=piānpáng}}), which may  have their own functions. ''Phonetic'' components provide a hint to a character's pronunciation, and ''semantic'' components indicate some element of the character's meaning. Components that serve neither function may be classified as ''forms'' with no particular meaning, other than their presence distinguishing one character from another.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=14–18}}

A straightforward structural classification scheme may consist of three pure classes of ''semantographs'', ''phonographs'' and ''signs''—having only semantic, phonetic, and form components respectively, as well as four classes corresponding to each possible combination of the three component types.{{sfnm|1a1=Yin|1y=2007|1pp=97–100|2a1=Su|2y=2014|2pp=102-111}} According to Yang Runlu, of the 3,500 characters used frequently in Standard Chinese, pure semantographs are the rarest, accounting for about 5% of the lexicon, followed by pure signs with 18%, and semantic–form and phonetic–form compounds together accounting for 19%. The remaining 58% are phono-semantic compounds.{{sfn|Yang|2008|pp=147-148}}

Qiu presents "three principles" of character formation, with ''semantographs'' describing all characters whose forms are wholly related to their meaning, regardless of the method by which the meaning was originally depicted, ''phonographs'' that include a phonetic component, and ''loangraphs'' encompassing existing characters that have been borrowed to write other words. He also acknowledges the existence of character classes that fall outside of these principles, such as pure ''signs''.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=163–171}}

=== Semantographs ===
==== Pictographs ====
{{Multiple image|direction=vertical|width=300|caption_align=center|border=none|header=Graphical evolution of pictographs
| caption1={{zhc|c=日|l=Sun}}|caption2={{zhc|c=山|l=mountain}}|caption3={{zhc|c=象|l=elephant}}
| image1=Evo-rì.svg|image2=Evo-shān.svg|image3=Evo-xiàng.svg
}}
While relatively few in number, most of the earliest characters originated as ''[[pictograph]]s'', representational pictures of physical objects.{{sfnm|1a1=Qiu|1y=2000|1p=154|2a1=Norman|2y=1988|2p=87}} In practice, their forms have become regularised and simplified after centuries of iteration in order to make them easier to write. Examples include {{linktext|日|lang=zh}} ('Sun'), {{linktext|月|lang=zh}} ('moon'), and {{linktext|木|lang=zh}} ('tree').{{efn-ua|{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://homeinmists.ilotus.org/hd/hydzd3.php?st=page_no&kw=1588|lang=zh|encyclopedia=[[Hanyu Da Zidian]]|year=1989|title=日|page=1588}}{{pb}}{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://homeinmists.ilotus.org/hd/hydzd3.php?st=page_no&kw=2188|lang=zh|encyclopedia=[[Hanyu Da Zidian]]|year=1989|title=月|page=2188}}{{pb}}{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://homeinmists.ilotus.org/hd/hydzd3.php?st=page_no&kw=1231|lang=zh|encyclopedia=[[Hanyu Da Zidian]]|year=1989|title=木|page=1231}}}}

As character forms developed, distinct depictions of various physical objects within pictographs became reduced to instances of a single written component.{{sfnm|1a1=Qiu|1y=2000|1pp=44–45|2a1=Zhou|2y=2003|2p=61}} As such, what a pictogram is depicting is often not immediately evident, and may be considered as a pure sign without regard for its origin in picture-writing. However, if a character's use in compounds, such as {{zhi|c=日}} in {{zhc|c=晴|l=clear sky}} still reflects its meaning and is not phonetic or arbitrary, it can still be considered as a semantic component.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=18–19}}

Due to the regularisation of character forms, individualised components may form part of a compound pictograph: For example, within a given character the component {{kxr|mouth}} often carries a meaning related to mouths, but within {{linktext|高|lang=zh}} ('tall')—a pictogram of a tall building—it instead depicts a window, ultimately lending to the character's meaning of 'tallness'. In another instance, the same 'mouth' radical depicts the lip of a vessel in the modern form of the pictogram {{linktext|畐|lang=zh}} ('full').{{efn-ua|{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://homeinmists.ilotus.org/hd/hydzd3.php?st=page_no&kw=4893|lang=zh|encyclopedia=[[Hanyu Da Zidian]]|year=1989|title=高|page=4893}}{{pb}}{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://homeinmists.ilotus.org/hd/hydzd3.php?st=page_no&kw=2710|lang=zh|encyclopedia=[[Hanyu Da Zidian]]|year=1989|title=畐|page=2710}}}}

Pictographs have often been extended from their original concrete meanings to take on additional layers of metaphor and [[synecdoche]], which sometimes even displace the pictogram's original meaning. Over time, this process sometimes creates excess ambiguity between different senses of a character, which is then usually resolved by adding additional components to create new characters used for specific senses. This can result in new pictographs, but usually results in other character types.{{sfn|Yip|2000|pp=39-42}}

==== Indicatives ====
Also called ''simple ideographs'', characters in this small category represent abstract concepts that lack concrete physical forms, but nonetheless can be depicted visually in an intuitive way. Examples include {{linktext|上|lang=zh}} ('up') and {{linktext|下|lang=zh}} ('down')—these characters originally had forms consisting of dots placed above and below a line, which later evolved into their present forms, which have less potential for graphical ambiguity in context.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|p=46}} More complex indicatives include {{linktext|凸|lang=zh}} ('convex'), {{linktext|凹|lang=zh}} ('concave'), and {{linktext|平|lang=zh}} ('flat and level').{{sfn|Norman|1988|pp=87}}

==== Compound ideographs ====
Also referred to as ''logical aggregates'', ''associative idea characters'', or ''syssemantographs'', characters in this class are formed by combining two or more pictographs or ideographs to suggest a new, synthetic meaning. A canonical example is {{linktext|明|lang=zh}} ('bright'), interpreted as the juxtaposition of the two brightest objects in the sky: {{lang|zh|日}} ('Sun'), and {{lang|zh|月}} ('Moon'), together expressing their shared quality of brightness. Though the historicity of this particular etymology has been contested in recent scholarship, it is definitively a canonical reading: for example, the common compound word {{zhi|c=明白}} means 'understanding', touching on the derived association of {{zhi|c=明}} with 'illumination'. The addition of the abbreviated {{kxr|艹|variant=y}} radical on top results in the compound ideograph {{zhc|c=萌|l=to sprout}}, alluding to the {{linktext|heliotropic}} behaviour of plant life. Other commonly cited examples include {{zhc|c=休|l=rest}}, composed of pictographs {{kxr|人}} and {{kxr|木}}, and {{zhc|c=好|l=good}}, composed of {{kxr|女}} and {{kxr|子}}.{{efn-ua|{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://homeinmists.ilotus.org/hd/hydzd3.php?st=page_no&kw=1599|lang=zh|encyclopedia=[[Hanyu Da Zidian]]|year=1989|title=明|page=1599}}{{pb}}{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://homeinmists.ilotus.org/hd/hydzd3.php?st=page_no&kw=3447|lang=zh|encyclopedia=[[Hanyu Da Zidian]]|year=1989|title=萌|page=3447}}{{pb}}{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://dict.concised.moe.edu.tw/dictView.jsp?ID=4870|lang=zh|encyclopedia=Concised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary|year=2021|publisher=Taiwan Ministry of Education|title=明白}}{{pb}}{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://homeinmists.ilotus.org/hd/hydzd3.php?st=page_no&kw=1101|lang=zh|encyclopedia=[[Hanyu Da Zidian]]|year=1989|title=好|page=1101}}}}
[[File:Compound Chinese character demonstration with 好.gif|frameless|left|upright=0.9|The compound character {{zhi|c=好}} illustrated as its component characters {{zhi|女}} and {{zhi|子}} repositioned side by side]]
Many traditional examples of compound ideographs are now believed to have actually originated as phono-semantic compounds, made obscure by subsequent changes in form.{{sfn|Sampson|Chen|2013|p=261}} [[Peter Boodberg]] and William Boltz go so far as to deny that any compound ideographs were devised in ancient times, maintaining that "secondary readings" that are now lost are responsible for the apparent absence of phonetic indicators,{{sfn|Boltz|1994|pp=104–110}} but their arguments have been rejected by other scholars.{{sfn|Sampson|Chen|2013|pp=265–268}}

Compound ideographs are common in {{transl|ja|kokuji}}, characters originally coined in Japan. An example of a modern compound ideograph used in written Chinese is {{linktext|砼|lang=zh}} ('concrete'), which combines the {{kxr|man}}, {{kxr|work}}, and {{kxr|stone}} radicals.{{efn-ua|{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://homeinmists.ilotus.org/hd/hydzd3.php?st=page_no&kw=2594|lang=zh|encyclopedia=[[Hanyu Da Zidian]]|year=1989|title=砼|page=2594}}}}

=== Phonographs ===
==== Phono-semantic compounds ====
These characters are composed of at least one semantic component and one phonetic component.{{sfn|Norman|1988|p=88}} They may be formed by one of several methods, often a phonetic component added to disambiguate a loangraph or a semantic component added to represent an extended sense of the original character. A compound's phonetic component may have been selected as to indicate an additional layer of meaning to the character as a whole. As a result, determining whether a given character is a phono-semantic compound or a ideographic compound is often non-trivial.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=154}}

Examples of phono-semantic compounds include {{zhc|c=河|p=hé|l=river}}, {{zhc|c=湖|p=hú|l=lake}}, {{zhc|c=流|p=liú|l=stream}}, {{zhc|c=沖|p=chōng|l=surge}}, and {{zhc|c=滑|p=huá|l=slippery}}. On the left-hand side of each, these characters have three short strokes: {{kxr|氵|v=y|name=no}}, a reduced form of the {{kxr|water}} radical. In these cases, this indicates to the reader that the meaning of each character is related to the concept of "water". The remainder of each character is the phonetic component: {{zhc|c=湖|p=hú}} is pronounced identically to {{zhc|c=胡|p=hú}} in Standard Chinese, {{zhc|c=河|p=hé}} is pronounced similarly to {{zhc|c=可|p=kě}}, and {{zhc|c=沖|p=chōng}} is pronounced similarly to {{zhc|c=中|p=zhōng}}.{{efn|Baxter provides the reconstructed Old Chinese pronunciations of this pair as {{transliteration|och|/*ɡ-ljuŋ/|italics=no}}{{sfn|Baxter|1992|p=750}} and {{transliteration|och|/*k-ljuŋ/|italics=no}}{{sfn|Baxter|1992|p=810}} respectively.}} While the discrepancy in pronunciation for these examples is negligible, accumulation of sound changes over time often results in a character's composition seeming totally arbitrary to a modern reader.

While the phonetic components within some compounds do precisely relate the pronunciation, most only provide an approximation, even before the emergence of any later sound changes. Some may only share the initial or final sounds of their phonetic components.{{sfn|Williams|2010}} The table below lists characters that each use {{lang|und-Hani|也}} for their phonetic part—save the final one, which uses a previous character in the list—it is apparent that none of them share its modern pronunciation. The Old Chinese pronunciation of {{lang|und-Hani|也}} has been reconstructed by Baxter and Sagart (2014) as {{transliteration|och|/*lAjʔ/|italics=no}}, similar to that for each compound.{{sfn|Baxter|Sagart|2014|p=371}} The table illustrates the sound changes that have taken place since the Shang and Zhou dynasties, when most of the characters in question entered the lexicon. For a modern reader, the resulting drift is such that the phonetic component no longer provides any hint as to each character's pronunciation.{{sfn|Norman|1988|p=94}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-variant:small-caps" | Phono-semantic compounds sharing phonetic component {{lang|und-Hani|也}}
! rowspan=2 scope="col" | {{abbr|Char.|character}}
! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Gloss{{efn|name=variants|Numerous other readings exist for each compound; the ones given are among the earliest used that clearly illustrate a semantic distinction.}}
! colspan=2 | Component
! rowspan=2 scope="col" | {{abbr|OC|Old Chinese}}{{efn-lg|name=bs-oc}}
! rowspan=2 scope="col" | {{abbr|MC|Middle Chinese}}{{efn-lg|name=b-mc}}
! colspan=3  |  Modern{{efn-lg|name=readings}}
|-
! scope="col" | {{abbr|Sem.|semantic}} !! scope="col" | {{abbr|Phon.|phonetic}} !! scope="col" | Mandarin !! scope="col" | Cantonese !! scope="col" | Japanese
|-
| style="background-color:lightyellow" | {{lang|und-Hani|也}}
| style="text-align:left" | {{gcl|PTC}}
| colspan="2" {{n/a}}{{efn|Originally a pictogram of a vulva. The ''[[Shuowen Jiezi]]'' gives the origin of {{zhi|c=也}} as {{zhi|c=女陰也|l=female ''yin'' [organ]}}. By the 6th century&nbsp;BCE, the original definition had fallen into disuse. The use of the character in the definition itself is as a declarative sentence-final particle, and all  appearances of the character in Classical texts from that time forward use it as a phonetic loan for the grammatical particle. In addition to being a Classical particle, in modern vernacular Chinese {{zhi|c=也}} has acquired a meaning of 'also'.}}
| {{transliteration|och|/*lAjʔ/|italics=no}}
| {{transliteration|ltc|yae<sup>X</sup>||italics=no}}
| {{transliteration|zh|yě}} {{IPAc-cmn|ye|3}}
| {{transliteration|yue|jaa<sup>5</sup>}} {{IPAc-yue|j|aa|5}}
| {{transliteration|ja|ya}} {{IPA|ja|ja̠|label=}}
|-
| {{lang|und-Hani|池}}
| style="text-align:left" | 'pool'
| {{lang|und-Hani|水}} ({{lang|und-Hani|氵}})<br />'water'
| rowspan=7 style="background-color:lightyellow" | {{lang|und-Hani|也}}<br />{{transliteration|och|/*lAjʔ/|italics=no}}
| {{transliteration|och|/*Cə.lraj/|italics=no}}
| rowspan="2" | {{transliteration|ltc|drje|italics=no}}
| rowspan="2" | {{transliteration|zh|chí}} {{IPAc-cmn|ch|i|2}}
| rowspan="2" | {{transliteration|yue|ci<sup>4</sup>}} {{IPAc-yue|c|i|4}}
| rowspan="2" | {{transliteration|ja|chi}} {{IPA|ja|tɕi|label=}}
|-
| {{lang|und-Hani|馳|}}
| style="text-align:left" | 'gallop'
| {{lang|und-Hani|馬}}<br />'horse'
| {{transliteration|och|/*[l]raj/|italics=no}}
|-
| {{lang|und-Hani|弛}}
| style="text-align:left" | 'loosen'
| {{lang|und-Hani|弓}}<br />'bow'
| {{transliteration|och|/*l̥ajʔ/|italics=no}}
| {{transliteration|ltc|sye<sup>X</sup>|italics=no}}
| {{transliteration|zh|chí}} {{IPAc-cmn|ch|i|2}}<hr style="width: 60%; margin-left:20%">{{transliteration|zh|shǐ}} {{IPAc-cmn|sh|i|3}}
| {{transliteration|yue|ci<sup>4</sup>}} {{IPAc-yue|c|i|4}}
| {{transliteration|ja|chi}} {{IPA|ja|tɕi|label=}}<hr style="width: 60%; margin-left:20%">{{transliteration|ja|shi}} {{IPA|ja|ɕi|label=}}
|-
| {{lang|und-Hani|施}}
| style="text-align:left" | 'set up'
| {{lang|und-Hani|㫃}}<br />'flag'
| {{transliteration|och|/*l̥aj/|italics=no}}
| {{transliteration|ltc|sye|italics=no}}
| {{transliteration|zh|shī}} {{IPAc-cmn|sh|i|1}}
| {{transliteration|yue|si<sup>1</sup>}} {{IPAc-yue|s|i|1}}
| {{transliteration|ja|se}} {{IPA|ja|se̞|label=}}<hr style="width: 60%; margin-left:20%">{{transliteration|ja|shi}} {{IPA|ja|ɕi|label=}}
|-
| {{lang|und-Hani|地}}
| style="text-align:left" | 'ground'
| {{lang|und-Hani|土}}<br />'earth'
| {{transliteration|och|/*[l]ˤej-s/|italics=no}}
| {{transliteration|ltc|dij<sup>H</sup>|italics=no}}
| {{transliteration|zh|dì}} {{IPAc-cmn|d|i|4}}
| {{transliteration|yue|dei<sup>6</sup>}} {{IPAc-yue|d|ei|6}}
| {{transliteration|ja|ji}} {{IPA|ja|dʑi|label=}}<hr style="width: 60%; margin-left:20%">{{transliteration|ja|chi}} {{IPA|ja|tɕi|label=}}
|-
| style="background-color:pink" | {{lang|und-Hani|他}}<hr style="width: 60%; margin-left:20%">{{lang|und-Hani|㐌}}
| style="text-align:left" | {{gcl|3-PR|third-person personal pronoun}}
| {{lang|und-Hani|人}} ({{lang|und-Hani|亻, 𠂉}})<br />'person'
| {{transliteration|och|/*l̥ˤaj/|italics=no}}
| {{transliteration|ltc|tha|italics=no}}
| rowspan="2" | {{transliteration|zh|tā}} {{IPAc-cmn|t|a|1}}
| rowspan="2" | {{transliteration|yue|taa<sup>1</sup>}} {{IPAc-yue|t|aa|1}}
| {{transliteration|ja|ta}} {{IPA|ja|ta̠|label=}}
|-
| {{lang|und-Hani|她}}
| style="text-align:left" | {{gcl|3-PR-F|third-person personal pronoun, feminine}}
| {{lang|und-Hani|女}}<br />'female'
| colspan="2" {{n/a}}{{efn|name=fem-pro|{{zhi|c=他}} was originally the third-person personal pronoun regardless of gender or animacy in Chinese. The feminine-specific form {{zhi|c=她}} only emerged in the early 20th century, after the bulk of Japanese orthographic borrowing had already occurred.}}
| {{n/a}}{{efn|name=fem-pro}}
|-
| {{lang|und-Hani|拖}}
| style="text-align:left" | 'drag'
| {{lang|und-Hani|手}} ({{lang|und-Hani|扌}})<br />'hand' || style="background-color:pink" | {{lang|und-Hani|㐌}}<br />{{transliteration|och|/*l̥ˤaj/|italics=no}}
| {{transliteration|och|/*l̥ˤaj/|italics=no}}
| {{transliteration|ltc|tha<sup>H</sup>||italics=no}}
| {{transliteration|zh|tuō}} {{IPAc-cmn|t|uo|1}}
| {{transliteration|yue|to<sup>1</sup>}} {{IPAc-yue|t|o|1}}
| {{transliteration|ja|ta}} {{IPA|ja|ta̠|label=}}<hr style="width: 60%; margin-left:20%">{{transliteration|ja|da}} {{IPA|ja|da̠|label=}}
|}

This method is still used to form new characters: for example {{zhc|t=鈈|p=bù|l=plutonium}} is the {{kxr|金}} radical plus the phonetic {{zhc|c=不|p=bù}}—described in Chinese as {{nowrap|"{{zhi|c=不}}}} gives sound, {{zhi|c=金}} gives meaning". Many [[chemical elements in East Asian languages|Chinese names for chemical elements]] and other [[organic nomenclature in Chinese|characters related to chemistry]] were formed in this way.<ref name="DW">{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5dmta8Vrf-8C&pg=PA211 |title=Translating Science: The Transmission of Western Chemistry Into Late Imperial China, 1840–1900 |date=2000 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004117761 |page=211 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Loangraphs ===
The phenomenon of an existing character for a word being used to write another homophonous or nearly-homophonous word was necessary to the emergence of the Chinese writing system, and it has remained common in the writing system ever since. Some loangraphs may represent words that have never been written another way—this is often the case with abstract grammatical particles such as {{Linktext|之|lang=zh}} and {{Linktext|其|lang=zh}}—but this is not always so.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=261–265}}

Loangraphs are also used to write words borrowed from other languages, such as the various Buddhist terminology introduced to China in antiquity, as well as contemporary non-Chinese words and names. For example, in the name {{zhc|s=罗马尼亚|t=羅馬尼亞|p=Luómǎníyà|l=Romania}}, each character is commonly used as a loangraph for its respective syllable. However, the barrier between a character's pronunciation and meaning is never total: when transcribing into Chinese, loangraphs are often chosen deliberately as to create certain connotations. This is regularly done with corporate brand names: for example, [[Coca-Cola]]'s Chinese name is {{zhc|s=可口可乐|t=可口可樂|p=Kěkǒu Kělè|l=the mouth can be happy}}, with the loangraphs selected as to possess a plausible meaning of "delicious and enjoyable".<ref name="AEG">{{Cite book |last=Gnanadesikan |first=Amalia E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nlEPhP900-UC&pg=PT61 |title=The Writing Revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet |date=2011 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-5985-5 |page=61 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Signs ===
Some characters and components are merely [[sign (semiotics)|signs]], whose meaning purely derives from their having a fixed, distinctive form. Basic examples of pure signs are found with the numerals beyond four, e.g. {{zhc|c=五|l=five}} and {{zhc|c=八|l=eight}}, whose forms do not give visual hints to the quantities they represent.{{sfnm|1a1=Qiu|1y=2000|1p=168|2a1=Norman|2y=1988|2p=79}}

=== Traditional ''Shuowen Jiezi'' classification ===
The ''[[Shuowen Jiezi]]'' is a character dictionary authored by the scholar [[Xu Shen]] {{circa|120&nbsp;CE}}. In its postface, Xu analyses what he sees as all the methods by which characters are created, introducing a categorisation scheme which would later become known as the {{zhp||s=六书|t=六書|p=liùshū|first=t|l=six writings}}. Mature formulations of this scheme stated that every character belonged to one of six categories, each mentioned with varying emphasis in the ''Shuowen Jiezi''. For nearly two millennia afterwards, this framework would serve as the traditional lens through which characters were analysed throughout the Sinosphere.{{sfn|Norman|1988|pp=67–69}} Xu based most of his analysis on examples of Qin seal script that were written down several centuries before his time—these were usually the oldest forms available to him, but Xu stated that he was aware of the existence of even older forms.{{sfn|Norman|1988|pp=86–87}}

Modern scholars agree that the theory presented in the ''Shuowen Jiezi'' is problematic, failing to fully capture the nature of Chinese writing, both in the present, as well as at the time Xu was writing.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=153–154,161}}{{sfn|Norman|1988|p=195}} The traditional Chinese lexicography as embodied in the ''Shuowen Jiezi'' presupposes either a phonetic or semantic purpose for every character component, providing implausible etymologies for characters later accepted as being pure signs.{{sfn|Qiu|2013|pp=102–108}}{{sfn|Norman|1988|pp=89}} However, the model has proven resilient, and it continues to serve as a guide for students in the process of memorising characters. One of the most important innovations contained in the ''Shuowen Jiezi'' is its grouping of a particular component considered to be of particular structural importance called a ''radical''. Over 500 radicals are recognised within the ''Shuowen Jiezi''—while this number would be reduced substantially in future dictionaries, the underlying concept would remain ubiquitous.{{sfnm|1a1=Handel|1y=2019|1p=43|2a1=Yong|2a2=Peng|2y=2008|2pp=102–103}}

== History ==
{{see also|History of the Chinese language}}
[[File:Comparative evolution of Cuneiform, Egyptian and Chinese characters.jpg|thumb|Comparative evolution from pictograms to abstract shapes in cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Chinese characters]]
According to Qiu Xigui, the broadest trend in the evolution of Chinese characters over their history has been simplification, both in graphical ''shape'' ({{zhi|c=字形|p=zìxíng}}), the "external appearances of individual graphs", and in graphical ''form'' ({{zhi|s=字体|t=字體|p=zìtǐ}}), "overall changes in the distinguishing features of graphic[al] shape and calligraphic style, [...] in most cases refer[ring] to rather obvious and rather substantial changes".{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=44–45}} 
=== Traditional invention narrative ===
Several works of Classical Chinese literature indicate that [[Chinese knotting#Record-keeping|knotted cords]] were used to keep records prior to the invention of writing.<ref>{{Cite conference |last=Yang |first=Yuxin | author-mask= Yang Yuxin |date=2018 |title=Unveiling and Activating the "Uncertain Heritage" of Chinese Knotting |url=https://papers.iafor.org/wp-content/uploads/papers/accs2018/ACCS2018_41803.pdf |conference=The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2018 |page=3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mair |first=Victor H. |work=Language Log | title= Prehistoric notation systems in Peru, with Chinese parallels | author-link= Victor H. Mair |url=https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=50819 |access-date=2023-07-31}}</ref> Works that reference the practice include chapter 80 of the ''[[Tao Te Ching]]''<ref>{{Cite book |translator-last=Chan |translator-first=Wing-tsit |title=The Way of Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching) |publisher=The Bobbs-Merrill Company |year=1963 |isbn=0-02-320700-0 |page=238 |language=en}} "Let the people again knot cords and use them (in place of writing)"</ref> and the "[[Xici]] II" chapter within the ''[[I Ching]]''.<ref name="xici2">{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://ctext.org/book-of-changes/xi-ci-xia/ens |title=The Book of Changes | title-link= I Ching |via= The Chinese Text Project | date= 1899 |translator-last=Legge |translator-first=James | translator-link= James Legge |script-title=zh:易經 |script-chapter=zh:系辞下 |trans-chapter=Xi Ci II |quote=In the highest antiquity, government was carried on successfully by the use of knotted cords (to preserve the memory of things). In subsequent ages the sages substituted for these written characters and bonds. By means of these (the doings of) all the officers could be regulated, and (the affairs of) all the people accurately examined. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924170601/https://ctext.org/book-of-changes/xi-ci-xia/ens |archive-date=24 September 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

According to tradition, Chinese characters were invented during the {{BCE|3rd millennium}} by [[Cangjie]], a scribe of the legendary [[Yellow Emperor]]. Cangjie is said to have invented symbols called {{zhc|c=字|p=zì}} due to his frustration with the limitations of knotting, taking inspiration from his study of animals, landscapes, and the stars in the sky. On the day that these first characters were created, grain rained down from the sky; that night, the people heard the wailing of ghosts and demons, lamenting that humans could no longer be cheated.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Yang |first1=Lihui |title=Handbook of Chinese Mythology |last2=An |first2=Deming |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-195-33263-6 |pages=84–86 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Neolithic ===
{{Main|Neolithic symbols in China}}
A series of inscribed graphs and pictures have been discovered at [[Neolithic]] sites in China, including [[Jiahu]] ({{circa|{{BCE|6500}}}}), [[Dadiwan culture|Dadiwan]] and [[Damaidi]] from the {{BCE|6th millennium}}, and [[Banpo]] from the {{BCE|5th millennium}}. The marks at these sites appear one at a time, and do not seem to imply any greater context. As such, Qiu concludes that "we do not have any basis for stating that these constituted writing nor is there reason to conclude that they were ancestral to [[Shang dynasty]] Chinese characters."{{sfn|Qiu|2000|p=31}} However, they do demonstrate [[sign (semiotics)|sign]] use in the [[Yellow River]] valley from the Neolithic through to the Shang period.<ref name="rincon">{{Cite news |last=Rincon |first=Paul |date=2003-04-17 |title='Earliest Writing' Found in China |language=en |publisher=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2956925.stm}}</ref>

=== Oracle bone script ===
{{Main|Oracle bone script}}
[[File:Shang dynasty inscribed scapula.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Ox scapula inscribed with characters recording the result of divinations]]
The earliest known examples of writing directly ancestral to modern characters are a body of inscriptions made on bronze vessels and [[oracle bone]]s during the late Shang dynasty ({{BCE|{{circa|1250}}{{snd}}1050}}),{{sfn|Kern|2010|p=1}}{{sfn|Keightley|1978|p=xvi}} with the very oldest dated to {{BCE|{{circa|1200}}}}.<ref name="Bagley">{{Cite book |last=Bagley |first=Robert |title=The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-83861-0 |editor-last=Houston |editor-first=Stephen |editor-link=Stephen D. Houston |pages=190–249 |language=en |chapter=Anyang writing and the origin of the Chinese writing system |author-link=Robert Bagley |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jsWL_XJt-dMC&q=1200}}</ref><ref name="Boltz">{{Cite book |last=Boltz |first=William G. |title=The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221&nbsp;BC |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-47030-8 |editor-last=Loewe |editor-first=Michael |editor-link=Michael Loewe |language=en |chapter=Language and Writing |access-date=3 April 2019 |editor-last2=Shaughnessy |editor-first2=Edward L. |editor-link2=Edward L. Shaughnessy |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cHA7Ey0-pbEC&pg=PA108 | doi= 10.1017/CHOL9780521470308.004 | p=109 }}</ref> Oracle bones and the script they bore were first documented by modern scholars in 1899, after examples were discovered being sold as "dragon bones" for medicinal purposes, with the symbols carved into them identified as being Chinese writing. By 1928, the source of the bones had been traced to a village near [[Anyang]] in [[Henan]], which was excavated by the [[Academia Sinica]] between 1928 and 1937. To date, over 150,000 such fragments have been found.{{sfn|Kern|2010|p=1}}

Oracle bone inscriptions are records of divinations performed in communication with royal ancestral spirits.{{sfn|Kern|2010|p=1}} The inscriptions range from a few characters in length at their shortest, to around 40 characters at their longest. The Shang king would communicate with his ancestors by means of [[scapulimancy]], inquiring about subjects such as the royal family, military success, and weather forecasting. The interpreted answers would be recorded on the divination material itself.{{sfn|Kern|2010|p=1}}

[[Oracle bone script]] is a well-developed writing system,{{sfn|Boltz|1986|p=424}}{{sfn|Keightley|1996}} suggesting that the Chinese script's origins may lie earlier than the late {{BCE|second millennium}}.  Although these divinatory inscriptions are the earliest surviving evidence of ancient Chinese writing, it is widely believed that writing was used for many other non-official purposes, but that the materials upon which non-divinatory writing was done—likely on [[Bamboo and wooden slips|wood and bamboo]]—were less durable than bones and shells, and have since decayed away.{{sfn|Kern|2010|p=2}}

=== Zhou scripts ===
[[File:Shi Qiang pan.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Shi Qiang pan]], a bronze ritual basin dated {{circa|900 BCE}}. Long inscriptions on the surface describe the deeds and virtues of the first seven Zhou kings.]]
{{See also|Chinese bronze inscriptions|Bamboo and wooden slips|Large seal script}}

The traditional notion of an orderly procession of scripts, with each suddenly invented and displacing the one previous, has been conclusively superseded by modern archaeological finds and scholarly research. More often, two or more scripts coexisted in a given area, and scripts evolved gradually. As early as the Shang, the oracle bone script existed as a simplified form alongside another used in bamboo books, as well as elaborate pictorial forms often used for clan emblems. These other forms have been preserved in [[Chinese bronze inscriptions|bronze inscriptions]].{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=63–64, 66, 86, 88–89, 104–107, 124}}

Study of these bronze inscriptions has revealed that the mainstream script underwent slow, gradual evolution during the Shang and [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou dynasties]], until assuming the form that is now known as [[small seal script]] within the [[Qin (state)|state of Qin]].{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=59–150}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chen |first=Zhaorong |year=2003 |publisher=Academia Sinica |isbn=978-9-576-71995-0 |series=Institute of History and Philology Monograph |language=zh |script-title=zh:秦系文字研究﹕从漢字史的角度考察 |trans-title=Research on the Qin Writing System: Through the Lens of the History of Writing in China |author-mask=Chen Zhaorong (陳昭容)}}</ref> Other scripts in use during the late Zhou include the [[bird-worm seal script]], as well as the regional forms used in non-Qin states. Examples of these styles were preserved as variants in the ''Shuowen Jiezi''.
<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Louis |first=François |year=2003 |title=Written Ornament: Ornamental Writing: Birdscript of the Early Han Dynasty and the Art of Enchanting |jstor=4434272 |journal=Ars Orientalis |volume=33 |pages=18–27 |issn=0571-1371}}</ref>

=== Qin unification and small seal script ===
{{Main|Small seal script}}
{{See also|Liding}}
Following the Qin's conquest of the other Chinese states and the founding of the imperial [[Qin dynasty]] in {{BCE|221}}, the Qin small seal script was standardised for use throughout the entire country. However, more than one script was in use at the time. A little-known, rectilinear, "vulgar" form had also been used in Qin for centuries prior to their conquest of China. The popularity of this form grew as the practice of writing became more widespread. By the [[Warring States period]], an immature form of [[clerical script]] had emerged in Qin, often called "early clerical" or "proto-clerical". It was based on the vulgar form, and influenced by seal script. The coexistence of proto-clerical and seal script runs counter to the traditional belief that only the latter was used by the Qin, with clerical script being suddenly invented during the early Han.
{{sfn|Qiu|2000|p=59, 104–107, 119}}

=== Han clerical script ===
{{Main|Clerical script}}
{{See also|Libian}}
The proto-clerical script matured gradually, and by the early Han period its sophistication was comparable to small seal script.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|p=123}} Recently discovered bamboo slips show the emergence of mature clerical script by the end of [[Emperor Wu of Han]]'s reign ({{BCE|141–87}}).{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=119, 123–124}}

As in previous eras, multiple scripts were in use during the Han, although mature clerical script—also called {{zhc|c=八分|p=bāfēn}}{{sfn|Qiu|2000|p=121}}—was dominant. An early type of [[cursive script (East Asia)|cursive script]] was also in use as early as 24&nbsp;BCE,{{efn|{{harvnb|Qiu|2000|pp=132–133}} provides archaeological evidence for this dating, in contrast to unsubstantiated claims dating the emergence of cursive anywhere from the Qin to the Eastern Han.}} incorporating cursive forms popular at the time, as well as elements from the vulgar writing that originated in Qin state. By the time of the [[Jin dynasty (265–420)|Jin dynasty]], this Han cursive style became known as {{zhc|c=章草|p=zhāngcǎo}}, sometimes known in English as 'clerical cursive', 'ancient cursive', or 'draft cursive'. Some believe this name, which uses the character {{zhc|c=章|l=orderly}}, arose because the style was considered by the Jin to be a more orderly form than what would become [[cursive script (East Asia)|the modern form of cursive]], called {{zhc|c=今草|p=jīncǎo}}, which had first emerged during the Jin and is still used today.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=130–138}}

==== Neo-clerical ====
Around the midpoint of the [[Eastern Han]], a simplified and easier form of clerical script appeared, which Qiu terms {{zhl|s=新隶体|t=新隸體|p=xīnlìtǐ|l=neo-clerical}}.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=113, 139}} By the end of the Han, this had become the dominant script used by scribes, though clerical script remained in use for formal works, such as engraved [[stelae]]. Qiu describes neo-clerical as a transitional form between clerical and regular script, remaining in use through the [[Three Kingdoms]] period and into the Jin dynasty.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=138–139}}

==== Semi-cursive ====
By the late Han, an early form of [[semi-cursive script]]{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=113, 139}} had begun developing from a cursive form of neo-clerical script.{{efn|{{harvnb|Qiu|2000|pp=140–141}} mentions examples of neo-clerical with "strong overtones of cursive script" from the late Eastern Han.}} This semi-cursive script was traditionally attributed to Liu Desheng ({{zhi|劉德升}}; {{circa|147}}{{snd}}188&nbsp;CE), although such attributions refer to early masters of a script rather than to their actual inventors, since the scripts generally evolved into being over time. Qiu provides examples of early semi-cursive script, lending credence to its having popular origins, rather than being solely Liu's invention.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=139–142}}

=== Regular script ===
{{Main|Regular script}}
[[File:浙江姓解1.jpeg|thumb|A page from a printed Song publication in a regular script [[typeface]], which resembles the handwriting of Tang-era calligrapher [[Ouyang Xun]]]]
The innovations of regular script have traditionally been credited to [[Cao Wei]] calligrapher [[Zhong Yao]] ({{circa|151}}{{snd}}230), often called the "father of regular script". The earliest surviving manuscripts written in regular script are copies of Zhong Yao's work, including at least one copied by [[Wang Xizhi]], often called the "Sage of Calligraphy". Regular script developed out of a neatly written form of early semi-cursive, with the addition of a {{zhl|t=頓|p=dùn|l=pause}} technique to end horizontal strokes, plus heavy tails on strokes which are written the downward-right diagonal. Thus, early regular script emerged from a neat, formal form of semi-cursive, which had itself emerged from neo-clerical, a simplified, convenient form of clerical script. It developed further during the [[Eastern Jin]] in the hands of Wang Xizhi and his son [[Wang Xianzhi (calligrapher)|Wang Xianzhi]]. However, the style was still not widely used, as most writers continued to use neo-clerical and semi-cursive styles in their daily writing, with the conservative clerical script also remaining in use on some stelae. Modern cursive script began to emerge during this time, exemplified by the example of calligraphers such as Wang. It was influenced by semi-cursive, as well as the new regular style.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|p=143–148}}

It was not until the [[Northern and Southern dynasties|Northern and Southern]] period that the use of regular script became dominant.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|p=145}} Thereafter, the style would continue to evolve, with some regarding [[Ouyang Xun]] as having produced the first mature examples of the form during the early [[Tang dynasty]]. After this point, there would not be another major stylistic shift in Chinese character forms outside of calligraphic contexts.

== Structure ==
{{multiple image
| width=30
| footer=Structural templates used in compounds, with red marking possible positions for [[radical (Chinese characters)|radicals]]
| image1=Busyu-hen.svg
| image2=Busyu-tsukuri.svg
| image3=Busyu-kanmuri.svg
| image4=Busyu-ashi.svg
| image5=Busyu-ashi2.svg
| image6=Busyu-ashi3.svg
| image7=Busyu-tare.svg
| image8=Busyu-nyou.svg
| image9=Busyu-kamae.svg
| image10=Busyu-kamae2.svg
| image11=Busyu-kamae3.svg
| image12=Busyu-kamae4.svg
| image13=Busyu-kamae5.svg
| image14=Busyu-kamae6.svg
}}

{{See also|Chinese character strokes|Radical (Chinese characters)|Chinese character components}}
Broadly, Chinese characters are rectilinear units of uniform width. Within the square allotted to each character, most are constructed from smaller ''components'', which are in turn drawn with a series of ''strokes''.{{sfn|Peking University|2004|pp=148–152}}{{sfn|Zhang|2013}} Strokes can be considered both the basic unit of handwriting, as well as the basic unit of [[graphemic]] organisation within the system. Individual strokes are generally categorised according to technique and graphemic function, as exemplified by the [[Eight Principles of Yong|Eight Principles of ''Yong'']]. In the transition from seal to clerical script, many formerly bespoke, interlinked character components became discrete and regularised.{{sfn|Norman|1988|p=86}}{{sfn|Zhou|2003|p=58}}

Characters are assembled according to predictable visual patterns, with some components usually not seen in certain positions within a character, and some taking distinct, visually congruous forms only when in a certain position—such as the {{kxr|刀}} radical appearing as {{kxr|刂|v=y|name=no}} on the right side of characters, but as {{kxr|⺈|v=y|name=no}} at the top of characters. Both the order in which strokes are drawn within a given component, as well as the order components are written in a character is largely fixed.{{sfn|Routledge|2016|pp=58–59}} This is summed up in practice with a few rules of thumb: generally components and characters are assembled from left-to-right, and from top-to-bottom, with 'enclosing' components started before, then closed after, the components they enclose.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Li |first=Wendan |title=Chinese Writing and Calligraphy |publisher=University of Hawai‘i Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-824-83364-0 |location=Honolulu |pages=70 |language=en}}</ref>

For example, {{zhi|字}} is made up of two components, with each in turn composed of three strokes, drawn in the following order:

{| cellspacing=1 cellpadding=2 border=thin role=presentation style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;text-align:center;font-size:1.1rem;"
|-
! style="font-size:0.85rem" | Character !! style="font-size:0.85rem" | Component !! style="font-size:0.85rem" | Stroke
|-
| rowspan=6  style="border:thin solid" | [[File:字-order.gif|80px]]
| rowspan=3  style="border:thin solid" | {{lang|und-Hani|宀}}
| '''(1)''' {{lang|und-Hani|㇔}}
|-
|  '''(2)''' {{lang|und-Hani|㇔}}
|-
|  '''(3)''' {{lang|und-Hani|㇇}}
|-
| rowspan=3 | {{lang|und-Hani|子}}
| '''(4)''' {{lang|und-Hani|㇇}}
|-
| '''(5)''' {{lang|und-Hani|㇚}}
|-
| '''(6)''' {{lang|und-Hani|㇐}}
|-
| colspan=3 | [[File:字-bw.png|500px]]
|}

=== Variants and allographs ===
{{Main|Variant Chinese characters}}
[[File:Variations of the 213th Chinese radical, gui 'tortoise'.png|thumb|Variants of the Chinese character for 'turtle', collected {{circa|1800}} from printed sources. The one at left is the traditional form used today in Taiwan and Hong Kong, {{zhi|t=龜}}, though {{zhi|t=龜}} may look slightly different, or even like the second variant from the left, depending on font. The modern simplified forms used in China, {{zhi|s=龟}}, and in Japan, {{lang|ja|亀}}, are most similar to the variant in the middle of the bottom row, though neither is identical. A few more closely resemble the modern simplified form of the character {{zhi|c=电|l=lightning}}]]

Over a character's history, graphical variants with identical meanings called ''[[allographs]]'' emerge via several processes, possibly to facilitate ease of handwriting, or to create a more 'correct' composition to the writer, according to the principles generally used to compose and explain characters.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=204–215, 373}} For example, individual components may be replaced with visually-, phonetically-, or semantically similar alternatives.{{sfn|Zhou|2003|pp=57–60, 63–65}}

The boundary between character structure and style, and thus between allographs of the same character versus semantically distinct characters, is often non-trivial or unclear.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=297–300, 373}}

== Methods and styles ==
{{Main|Chinese script styles}}
[[File:噹噹茶餐廳2021年7月初的午餐餐牌-tweaked.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Ordinary handwriting on a lunch menu in Hong Kong]]
There are numerous styles, or {{zht|tr=scripts|t=書|s=书|p=shū}} in which characters can be written. Most that are used throughout the Sinosphere originated within China, but may have minor regional variations. Styles created outside China tend to remain localised in their use, these include the Japanese ''[[edomoji]]'' and the Vietnamese {{lang|vi|[[lệnh thư]]}} script.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nawar |first=Haytham |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv36xvqb7 |title=Language of Tomorrow: Towards a Transcultural Visual Communication System in a Posthuman Condition |date=2020 |publisher=Intellect |isbn=978-1-789-38183-2 |pages=130–155|chapter=Transculturalism and Posthumanism|doi=10.2307/j.ctv36xvqb7.8|jstor=j.ctv36xvqb7 }}</ref>

Seal script is still used, though usually only in the [[Seal (East Asia)|seals]] that lend the style its name. Clerical and regular script styles are ubiquitous in print; semi-cursive styles are also common when writing by hand. Modern use of fully cursive script is limited due to being continuous and abbreviated to the point where individual strokes are no longer differentiable, though historically it has been revered for its beauty and the freedom it is seen to embody.

=== Calligraphy ===
{{Main|Chinese calligraphy}}
[[File:This Letter written by Mi Fei.jpg|thumb|right|Chinese calligraphy of mixed styles by Song poet [[Mi Fu]]]]

Chinese calligraphy is usually done with [[ink brush]], and was considered one of the [[four arts]] to be mastered by Chinese scholars. The set of rules is deliberately minimalist, but each character has a set number of brushstrokes. Strict regularity is not required, since strokes may be accentuated for dramatic effect of individual style. Calligraphy was considered a means by which scholars could artfully express their thoughts and teachings.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Li |first=Wendan |title=Chinese Writing and Calligraphy |publisher=University of Hawai‘i Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-824-83364-0 |location=Honolulu |pages=180–183|language=en}}</ref>

=== Printing and typefaces ===
'Song' typefaces ({{zhi|s=宋体|t=宋體|p=sòngtǐ}})—also called 'Ming', especially in Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong—are named for the respective periods whose printed styles are being imitated, considered to be periods during which [[woodblock printing]] flourished in China. Ming and sans-serif are the most popular in [[body text]].

[[East Asian Gothic typeface|Sans-serif]] typefaces, called {{zhl|s=黑体|t=黑體|p=hēitǐ|l=black form}} in Chinese and 'Gothic' ({{lang-ja|ゴシック体|label=none}}) in Japanese, are characterised by simple lines of even thickness for each stroke, akin to sans-serif styles in Western typography.

Most typefaces in the Song dynasty were regular script typefaces, which resembled a particular calligrapher's handwriting, while most modern regular script typefaces tend toward general-purpose use.

{{Clear}}

=== Use with computers ===
[[File:Chenzihmyon typefaces.svg|thumb|upright=0.75|The first four characters of the ''[[Thousand Character Classic]]'' in different typefaces and historical styles. From right to left: seal script, clerical script, regular script, Ming, and sans-serif]]
{{Main|Chinese character IT}}

Even before the advent of computers, the very first electro-mechanical [[input/output]] and [[text encoding]] methods to be designed were done so for use with alphabet-based writing systems, exemplified by the design of [[typewriters]] and the [[Morse code]] and [[ASCII]] standards. Adaptation of these technologies for use with a logography of thousands of characters was non-trivial.{{sfn|Su|2014|p=218}} 

Like English and other languages, Chinese characters are output on printers and screens in different [[fonts]].{{sfn|Li|2013|p=62}} In addition to the international  system of measuring with [[Point (typography)|points]], Chinese characters are also measured by a unit called ''zihao'' ({{zhi|c=字号}}), first invented for Chinese printing in 1859.{{sfn|Zhang|2006}}

==== Input methods ====
{{Main|Chinese input method}}
Predominantly, Chinese characters are input as strings of Latin characters, which enables the use of a standard keyboard. Phonetic encodings are usually based on existing transcription schemes, such as pinyin for Mandarin, and Jyutping for Cantonese. Writing a given character usually involves typing out its phonetic transcription, possibly followed by a number representing the tone: for example, {{zhc|c=香港|l=Hong Kong}} could be input as {{code|xiang1gang3}} using pinyin, and as {{code|hoeng1gong2}} using Jyutping. 

Encodings may also be based on the form of characters. Using the existing rules of stroke order and how components are assembled into whole characters,{{snf|National Language Commission |1997}} characters may be assigned a more unique shorthand than its phonetic transcription using one of several methods, potentially increasing the speed of typing. Popular form-based encoding methods include [[Wubi method|Wubi]] on the mainland, and [[Cangjie input method|Cangjie]]—named after the mythological inventor of writing—in Taiwan and Hong Kong. For example, {{zhc|c=疆|l=border}} is encoded as {{code|NGMWM}} using the Cangjie method, with each letter corresponding to the components {{lang|zh|{{code|弓土一田一}}}},  with some omitted according to predictable rules.{{sfn|Zhang|2016|p=422}}

Contextual constraints may be used to improve candidate character selection. When ignoring tones, {{lang|zh|大学}} and {{lang|zh|大雪}} are both transcribed as {{code|daxue}}, the system may prioritize which candidate should appear first based on the surrounding context.{{sfn|Su|2014|p=222}}

==== Encoding and interchange ====
{{Main|Chinese character encoding}}
{{See also|Han unification|CJK Unified Ideographs}}
Text is represented digitally by a series of binary code points. Since there are potentially tens of thousands of characters that may see use,{{sfn|Language Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences|2020}} each requires its own encoding. In ''[[The Unicode Standard]]'', which is the encoding now used for the majority of internet traffic worldwide, the [[Basic Multilingual Plane]] (BMP) is a sequence of 2<sup>16</sup> code points.<ref>{{Citation |title=Unicode Character Count V15.1 |date=2023 |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/stats/charcountv15_1.html |access-date=2023-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009085702/https://www.unicode.org/versions/stats/charcountv15_1.html |archive-date=2023-10-09}}</ref> Within the BMP, Unicode encodes over 90,000 [[CJK Unified Ideographs]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/reports/tr38/#BlockListing | title=UAX #38: Unicode Han Database (Unihan)|publisher=The Unicode Consortium }}</ref>

Before Unicode became predominant, the Chinese government published the [[GB2312]] standard in 1980, which included 6,763 [[simplified characters]]. Of these, 3,755 frequently-used ones were ordered by pinyin, with the rest by radical indexing. The latest version of GB encoding is [[GB18030]], which supports both simplified and traditional Chinese characters, and is completely one-to-one with the relevant segments of the Unicode codespace.<ref name="gb18030-2022-kenlunde">{{cite web |last1=Lunde |first1=Ken |title=The GB 18030-2022 Standard |url=https://ken-lunde.medium.com/the-gb-18030-2022-standard-3d0ebaeb4132 |website=Medium |access-date=7 August 2022 |language=en |date=4 August 2022}}</ref>

Taiwan's ''Chinese Standard Interchange Code'' ([[CNS11643]]) supported 48,027 characters in its 1992 version; it currently encodes over 96,000 characters.<ref>{{cite web |title=About CNS |publisher=Taiwan Ministry of Digital Affairs|url=https://www.cns11643.gov.tw/wordCount.jsp}}</ref> The [[Big5]] standard was jointly developed by five Taiwanese IT companies during the early 1980s, and remains the most widely used non-Unicode encoding for Chinese characters, being comparatively popular in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. It encodes 13,053 characters.

== Vocabulary and adaptation ==
{{Further|Chinese family of scripts}}
Writing first emerged during a stage of development in the Chinese language known as [[Old Chinese]]. In most cases, each character corresponds to a morpheme that was originally an independent Old Chinese word.{{sfn|Norman|1988|pp=74–75}} However, in most modern varieties, many words are [[compound (linguistics)|compounds]] of two or more morphemes, and are therefore written with several characters. In Japanese and Korean, morphemes are often multiple syllables, and as such single characters may represent several spoken syllables.<ref>{{Cite book | chapter= Metalinguistic and subcharacter skills in Chinese literacy acquisition| pages= 202–218 | author1-last= Tong | author1-first= Xiuli | author2-last= Liu | author2-first= Phil D. | author3-last= McBride-Chang | author3-first= Catherine |editor1= Clare Patricia Wood |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z6d5AgAAQBAJ |title=Contemporary Perspectives on Reading and Spelling |editor2=Vincent Connelly |publisher=Routledge |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-415-49716-9 |location=New York |quote-page=203 |language=en |quote=Often, the Chinese character can function as an independent unit in sentences, but sometimes it must be paired with another character or more to form a word. [...] Most words consist of two or more characters, and more than 80 per cent make use of lexical compounding of morphemes (Packard, 2000).}}</ref> 

[[Classical Chinese]] is the form of written Chinese used in works of literature at the time Old Chinese was dying out. The style continued to be imitated by later authors—this subsequent form is referred to as Literary Chinese, which became entrenched as the spoken language diverged. The use of Literary Chinese was loosely analogous to that of [[Latin]] in pre-modern Europe; it remained the typical written form of the language until the 20th century, well after the spoken varieties had diverged. While it did not remain static over time, it retained many properties of spoken Old Chinese. Over time, with numerous sound mergers occurring throughout different varieties, the introduction of polysyllabic words increasingly served the function of reducing ambiguity between words that had since become homophonic.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2012|p=22}} Today, it has been estimated that over two-thirds of the 3,000 most common words in modern Standard Chinese are polysyllabic, with the vast majority of these being two-syllable words.{{sfn|Yip|2000|p=18}}

After the introduction of written Chinese to surrounding countries, local languages such as Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese eventually began to be written down as well, though the use of Literary Chinese remained predominant until the modern period. Characters adapted to write these languages were used for record-keeping, histories, and official communications.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/4818 |title=The Oxford History of Historical Writing: Volume 3: 1400–1800 |date=2012-03-29 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-921917-9 |editor-last=Rabasa |editor-first=José |volume=3 |pages=2 |doi=10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199219179.001.0001 |quote="...East Asia had been among the first regions of the world to produce written records of the past. Well into modern times Chinese script, the common script across East Asia, served—with local adaptations and variations—as the normative medium of record-keeping and written historical narrative, as well as official communication. This was true, not only in China itself, but in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam." |editor-last2=Sato |editor-first2=Masayuki |editor-last3=Tortarolo |editor-first3=Edoardo |editor-last4=Woolf |editor-first4=Daniel}}</ref> In Japanese and Vietnamese, characters were used to write both the corresponding native vocabulary, as well as [[loanword]]s with  pronunciations borrowed from Chinese, referred to as [[Sino-Xenic pronunciations]]. Characters in these languages may have native pronunciations, Sino-Xenic pronunciations, or both. Some characters have multiple Sino-Xenic readings borrowed at different points in time from different varieties of Chinese.{{sfn|Handel|2019|p=212}} The comparison of Sino-Xenic pronunciations has been useful in the reconstruction of [[Middle Chinese phonology]]. In Korea, hanja were almost exclusively used to write [[Sino-Korean vocabulary]], as opposed to native vocabulary.

Chinese characters were used in Vietnam during the [[Vietnam under Chinese rule|millennium of Chinese rule]] that began in 111&nbsp;BCE; they were adapted to write Vietnamese {{circa|the 13th century}}, creating the {{langr|vi|[[chữ Nôm]]}} script. Writing  also arrived in Korea during the 2nd century&nbsp;BCE, alongside other cultural elements such as [[Korean Buddhism|Buddhism]]; the practice of writing in Korea became widespread over the following three centuries. From Korea, writing spread to Japan during the 5th century&nbsp;CE.{{sfn|Handel|2019|pp=64–65}}

Currently, the only non-Chinese language normally written with Chinese characters is Japanese. Vietnam abandoned the use of {{langr|vi|chữ Nôm}} and Literary Chinese in the early 20th&nbsp;century in favour of a Latin alphabet, and Korea has largely replaced the use of hanja with hangul. Since education regarding Chinese characters is not mandatory in South Korea, the usage of hanja is rapidly disappearing.<ref>{{Cite news |date=24 November 2016 |title=공문서 한글전용·초중등 한자교육 선택 고시 '합헌'(종합) |trans-title=|publisher=Maeil Kyungje |language=ko |url=https://www.mk.co.kr/news/society/view/2016/11/818015/ |access-date=4 February 2022 |archive-date=4 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204151712/https://www.mk.co.kr/news/society/view/2016/11/818015/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Old Chinese ===
[[File:chineseprimer3.png|right|upright=0.7|thumb|Excerpt from a 1436 primer on Chinese characters|alt=Line drawings of various ordinary objects such as books, baskets, buildings, and musical instruments are displayed beside their corresponding Chinese characters]]
{{See also|Old Chinese|Reconstructions of Old Chinese}}

Words in Old Chinese were generally [[monosyllabic]]; as such, each character denoted an independent word.{{sfn|Norman|1988|p=58}} Affixes could be added to form a new word, which was often written with the same single character. In many cases, the pronunciations then diverged due to the systematic [[sound change]]s caused by the affixes. For example, many additional readings in modern varieties reflect the [[Middle Chinese]] 'departing tone', the major source of the 4th tone in modern Standard Chinese. Many scholars now believe that this Middle Chinese tone is the reflex of an Old Chinese derivational suffix {{transliteration|och|/*-s/|italic=no}} called the ''qusheng'' {{lang|zh|去聲}} that served a range of semantic functions—possibly the only example of [[inflectional morphology]] extant in the otherwise [[analytic language]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zhang |first=Shuya |date=2022 |title=Rethinking the ''*-s'' suffix in Old Chinese: with new evidence from Situ Rgyalrong |url=https://hal.science/hal-03636079/file/Rethinking_the_s_suffix_in_Old_Chinese.pdf |journal=Folia Linguistica |volume=56 |issue=s43–s1 |pages=129–167 |doi=10.1515/flin-2022-2014 |issn=0165-4004 |s2cid=248002645 |via=Academic Search Complete}}</ref>{{sfn|Baxter|1992|pp=315–317}} For example:
{| cellpadding=5%
! scope="col" | Character || scope="col" | {{abbr|OC|Old Chinese}}{{efn-lg|name=b-oc}} || || scope="col" | {{abbr|MC|Middle Chinese}}{{efn-lg|name=b-mc}} || || scope="col" | {{abbr|mod.|Modern Mandarin}} || Gloss
|-
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" rowspan="2" | {{zhi|t=傳|first=t}}{{sfn|Baxter|1992|p=315}}
| {{transliteration|och|*drjon|italic=no}} || >
| {{transliteration|ltc|drjwen'|italic=no}} || >
| {{audio-lang|Zh-chuán.ogg|zh|{{transliteration|zh|chuán}}}}
| 'to transmit'
|-
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{transliteration|och|*drjons|italic=no}} || style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | >
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{transliteration|ltc|drjwen<sup>H</sup>|italic=no}} || style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | >
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{audio-lang|Zh-zhuàn.ogg|zh|{{transliteration|zh|zhuàn}}}}
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | 'a record'
|-
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" rowspan="2" | {{zhi|c=磨}}{{sfn|Baxter|1992|p=315}}
| {{transliteration|och|*maj|italic=no}} || >
| {{transliteration|ltc|ma|italic=no}} || >
| {{audio-lang|Zh-mó.ogg|zh|{{transliteration|zh|mó}}}}
| 'to grind'
|-
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{transliteration|och|*majs|italic=no}} || style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | >
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{transliteration|ltc|ma<sup>H</sup>|italic=no}} || style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | >
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{audio-lang|Zh-mò.ogg|zh|{{transliteration|zh|mò}}}}
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | 'grindstone'
|-
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" rowspan="2" | {{zhi|c=宿}}{{sfn|Baxter|1992|p=316}}
| {{transliteration|och|*sjuk|italic=no}} || >
| {{transliteration|ltc|sjuwk|italic=no}} || >
| {{audio-lang|Zh-sù.ogg|zh|{{transliteration|zh|sù}}}}
| 'to stay overnight'
|-
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{transliteration|och|*sjuks|italic=no}} || style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | >
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{transliteration|ltc|sjuw<sup>H</sup>|italic=no}} || style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | >
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{audio-lang|Zh-xiù.ogg|zh|{{transliteration|zh|xiù}}}}
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | 'celestial mansion'
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{zhi|t=説|first=t}}{{sfn|Baxter|1992|pp=197, 305}}
| {{transliteration|och|*hljot|italic=no}} || >
| {{transliteration|ltc|sywet|italic=no}} || >
| {{audio-lang|Zh-shuō.ogg|zh|{{transliteration|zh|shuō}}}}
| 'speak'
|-
| {{transliteration|och|*hljots|italic=no}} || >
| {{transliteration|ltc|sywej<sup>H</sup>|italic=no}} || >
| {{audio-lang|Zh-shuì.ogg|zh|{{transliteration|zh|shuì}}}}
| 'exhort'
|}

Another common sound change occurred between voiced and voiceless initials, though the phonemic voicing distinction has disappeared in most modern varieties. This is believed to reflect an Old Chinese [[Transitivity (grammar)|de-transitivising]] prefix, but scholars disagree on whether the voiced or voiceless form reflects the original root. Each pair of examples below reflects two words of opposite transitivity.

{| cellpadding=5%
! scope="col" | Character || scope="col" | {{abbr|OC|Old Chinese}}{{efn-lg|name=b-oc}} || || scope="col" | {{abbr|MC|Middle Chinese}}{{efn-lg|name=b-mc}} || || scope="col" | {{abbr|mod.|Modern Mandarin}} || Gloss
|-
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" rowspan="2" | {{zhi|t=見}}{{sfn|Baxter|1992|p=218}}
| {{transliteration|och|*kens|italic=no}} || >
| {{transliteration|ltc|ken<sup>H</sup>|italic=no}} || >
| {{audio-lang|Zh-jiàn.ogg|zh|{{transliteration|zh|jiàn}}}}
| 'to see'
|-
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{transliteration|och|*gens|italic=no}} || style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | >
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{transliteration|ltc|hen<sup>H</sup>|italic=no}} || style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | >
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{audio-lang|Zh-xiàn.ogg|zh|{{transliteration|zh|xiàn}}}}
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | 'to appear'
|-
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" rowspan="2" | {{zhi|t=敗}}{{sfn|Baxter|1992|p=218}}
| {{transliteration|och|*prats|italic=no}} || >
| {{transliteration|ltc|pæj<sup>H</sup>|italic=no}} || >
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" rowspan="2" | {{audio-lang|Zh-bài.ogg|zh|{{transliteration|zh|bài}}}}{{efn|In this case, the pronunciations have converged in Standard Chinese, but they have not in other varieties.}}
| 'to defeat'
|-
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{transliteration|och|*brats|italic=no}} || style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | >
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | {{transliteration|ltc|bæj<sup>H</sup>|italic=no}} || style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | >
| style="border-bottom: 1px dotted" | 'to be defeated'
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{zhi|c=折}}{{sfn|Baxter|1992|p=219}}
| {{transliteration|och|*tjat|italic=no}} || >
| {{transliteration|ltc|tsyet|italic=no}} || >
| {{audio-lang|Zh-zhé.ogg|zh|{{transliteration|zh|zhé}}}}
| 'to bend'
|-
| {{transliteration|och|*djat|italic=no}} || >
| {{transliteration|ltc|dzyet|italic=no}} || >
| {{audio-lang|Zh-shé.ogg|zh|{{transliteration|zh|shé}}}}
| 'to be broken by bending'
|}

=== Vernacular Chinese varieties ===
{{See also|Middle Chinese|Varieties of Chinese}}
Multi-syllable words began entering the language during the [[Western Zhou]] period; it is estimated that between 25% and 30% of the vocabulary used in [[Warring States period]] texts is polysyllabic. The process has accelerated over the centuries as phonetic change has increased the number of homophones.{{sfn|Norman|1988|p=112}} The most common process of Chinese word formation after the Classical period has been to create [[compound (linguistics)|compounds]] of existing words. Words have also been created by appending [[affix]]es to words, by [[reduplication|reduplicating]] words, and by borrowing words from other languages.{{sfn|Norman|1988|pp=155–156}} While polysyllabic words are generally written with one character per syllable, abbreviations are occasionally used.{{sfn|Norman|1988|p=74}}

In addition, there are a number of {{zhl|c=方言字|l=dialect characters|p=fāngyánzì}} that are not generally used in formal written Chinese but represent colloquial terms in various spoken varieties of the language. In general, it is common practice to use standard characters to transcribe previously unwritten words in Chinese dialects when obvious cognates exist. However, when no obvious cognate exists due to factors like irregular sound changes or semantic drift over time, or an origin in a non-Chinese language, like a substratum or loanword, then characters to transcribe it are borrowed according to the rebus principle, or invented in an ad hoc manner.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kwan-hin |first1=Cheung |author1-mask=Cheung Kwan-hin (張系顯) |last2=Bauer |first2=Robert S. |date=2002 |title=The Representation of Cantonese with Chinese Characters |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23826053 |journal=Journal of Chinese Linguistics Monograph Series |issue=18 |pages=12–20 |jstor=23826053 |issn=2409-2878}}</ref> These new characters are generally phono-semantic compounds, e.g. [[Min Nan]] {{lang|nan|侬}} ('person'), although there are examples of compound ideographs, e.g. northeast Mandarin {{lang|cmn|孬}} ('bad').{{cn|date=November 2023}}

There may be several ways to write a dialectal word—often, one that is etymologically correct, and one or several that are based on the word's pronunciation—e.g. the etymological {{lang|wuu|觸祭}} versus the phonetic {{lang|wuu|戳鸡}} ({{transliteration|wuu|<sup>7</sup>tshoq<sup>1</sup>ci}}) in [[Shanghainese]], meaning 'eat'. Speakers of a dialect will generally recognise a dialectal word if it is transcribed according to pronunciation, while the etymologically correct form may be more difficult to recognise.{{cn|date=November 2023}} For example, few Gan speakers would recognise the character {{lang|gan|隑}} as meaning 'to lean' in their dialect,{{efn-ua|{{Cite encyclopedia |title=隑 |encyclopedia=International Encoded Han Character and Variants Database |publisher=Academica Sinica|url=https://chardb.iis.sinica.edu.tw/char/25353 |access-date=2023-10-31}}}} because this sense of the character is now archaic in Standard Mandarin.

In Taiwan, there is also a body of semi-official characters used to represent [[Taiwanese Hokkien]] and Hakka. An example of an Hakka vernacular character is {{lang|hak|㓾}} ({{transliteration|hak|cii<sup>11</sup>}}, 'kill').{{efn-ua|{{Cite encyclopedia |title=㓾 |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Hakka |publisher=Taiwan Ministry of Education |url=https://hakkadict.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/gs32/gsweb.cgi?o=dalldb&s=id=%22HK0000001118%22.&searchmode=basic&checknoback=1}}}} Other varieties of Chinese with a significant number of speakers—like [[Shanghainese]] Wu, [[Gan Chinese]], and [[Sichuanese Mandarin]]—also have their own series of characters, but these are not often seen, except on advertising billboards directed toward locals and are not used in formal settings except to give precise transcriptions of witness statements in legal proceedings.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} Standard Chinese is the preferred written language within every region of mainland China.

=== Japanese ===
{{Japanese writing}}
{{Main|Kanji}}
{{See also|Kanbun}}

In the Japanese writing system, Chinese characters used are known as kanji. Japanese historically borrowed many words from Chinese, which were written with their original characters, while native Japanese words were also written with orthographic borrowings of Chinese characters with similar meanings. Most kanji arrived via both borrowing processes, and thus have both native Japanese readings, known as {{transl|ja|kun'yomi}}, as well as Chinese-original readings, known as {{transl|ja|on'yomi}}. Moreover, Chinese words were often borrowed multiple times from different varieties and at different times, resulting in several distinct {{transl|ja|on'yomi}} readings for the same character.{{sfn|Coulmas|1991|pp=122–129}} Modern Japanese uses kanji for most [[word stem]]s, as well as [[hiragana]] and [[katakana]], a pair of syllabaries collectively known as [[kana]]. The syllabaries were derived by simplifying Chinese characters selected to represent Japanese syllables; they differ from one another in part because each selected different characters for each syllable, and used different strategies to reduce the characters for easy writing. Katakana selected smaller components from each character, while hiragana were based on cursive forms of whole characters.{{sfn|Coulmas|1991|pp=129–132}}

Due to Japanese being a [[synthetic language]], many kanji have acquired multi-syllable readings. For example, the kanji {{Nihongo2|刀}} has a native {{transl|ja|kun'yomi}} reading of {{transliteration|ja|katana}}. In different contexts, it can also be read with the {{transl|ja|on'yomi}} reading {{transliteration|ja|tō}}, such as in the Chinese loanword {{lang-ja|日本刀|nihontō|Japanese sword|label=none}}, whose pronunciation descends from the Chinese pronunciation at the time of borrowing. Loanwords prior to the Meiji era were typically written with unrelated kanji whose {{transl|ja|on'yomi}} had the same pronunciation as the syllables in the loanword. These spellings are called called {{transl|ja|[[ateji]]}}: for example, {{Nihongo2|亜米利加}} was written for modern {{lang-ja|アメリカ|Amerika|America|label=none}}. Only some {{transl|ja|ateji}} spellings are still in common use, such as {{lang-ja|缶|kan|can|label=none}}.

=== Korean ===
{{Main|Hanja}}

As early as the [[Gojoseon]] period, Literary Chinese was the dominant form of written communication in Korea. Although the [[hangul]] alphabet was invented by the [[Joseon]] king [[Sejong]] in 1443, it was not taken up by Korean literati, and did not come into widespread use until the late 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=알고 싶은 한글 |url=http://www.korean.go.kr/hangeul/setting/002.html |access-date=22 March 2018 |website=국립국어원 |publisher=National Institute of Korean Language|lang=ko}}</ref><ref name="fischer">{{Cite book |last=Fischer |first=Stephen Roger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ywo0M9OpbXoC&pg=PA189 |title=A History of Writing |year=2004 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=1-86189-101-6 |series=Globalities |location=London |pages=189–194 |access-date=2009-04-03}}</ref> Even today, much of the Korean vocabulary, especially in areas of science and sociology, comes directly from Chinese. However, due to the lack of tones in the Korean language, many dissimilar [[Sino-Korean vocabulary|Sino-Korean words]] took on identical pronunciations, and as such are spelled identically in hangul.{{sfn|Handel|2019|pp=75–82}}  For example, the phonetic dictionary entry for {{Lang-ko|기사|gisa|label=none}} yields more than 30 different entries. In the past, this ambiguity had been efficiently resolved by parenthetically displaying the associated hanja. While hanja are sometimes used for Sino-Korean vocabulary, their use for native Korean words is rare.

When learning to write hanja, students are taught to memorise a native Korean word with the same meaning and the Sino-Korean pronunciation for each character.{{sfn|Handel|2019|pp=80–81}} Examples of listings include:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Hanja
! colspan="2"             | Hangul
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Gloss
|-
! scope="col" | Native translation !! scope="col" | Sino-Korean
|-
| {{Lang-ko|水|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|물|mul|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|수|su|label=none}} || 'water'
|-
| {{Lang-ko|人|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|사람|saram|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|인|in|label=none}} || 'person'
|-
| {{Lang-ko|大|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|큰|keun|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|대|dae|label=none}} || 'big'
|-
| {{Lang-ko|小|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|작을|jakeul|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|소|so|label=none}} || 'small'
|-
| {{Lang-ko|下|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|아래|arae|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|하|ha|label=none}} || 'down'
|-
| {{Lang-ko|父|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|아비|abi|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|부|bu|label=none}} || 'father'
|-
| {{Lang-ko|韓|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|나라 이름|nara ireum|label=none}} || {{Lang-ko|한|han|label=none}} || 'Korea'
|}

==== South Korea ====
Hanja are still used in South Korea, particularly in newspapers, weddings, place names, and the practice of calligraphy—although to nowhere near the extent of kanji use in Japanese society. At present, Chinese characters are sometimes used for the disambiguation of homophonous words. Additionally, their use still possesses connotations of erudition and cultural Confucianism; knowledge of Chinese characters is considered to be a high class attribute by many Koreans, and an indispensable part of a classical education.<ref name="fischer" />
There is a clear trend toward the exclusive use of hangul in ordinary South Korean contexts.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Choo |first1=Miho |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=psO_Oli22m8C&q=sino-korean+words&pg=PR9 |title=Handbook of Korean Vocabulary: An Approach to Word Recognition and Comprehension |last2=O'Grady |first2=William |publisher=University of Hawai‘i Press |year=1996 |isbn=0-8248-1815-6 |pages=ix}}</ref> The extent of hanja use has become a politically contentious issue in the country, with some seeing its total abandonment, including ending hanja education in schools, as a "purification" of the national language and culture. Others support returning to a level of ordinary hanja use previously seen during the 1970s and 80s.{{sfn|Hannas|1997|pp=68–72}} There are hanja that are used more widely, alongside its hangul counterpart, such as the word 'voice', with the hanja still being considered higher in register.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Pan |first1=Yuling |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429294914/sociolinguistics-survey-translation-yuling-pan-mandy-sha-hyunjoo-park |title=The Sociolinguistics of Survey Translation |last2=Sha |first2=Mandy |date=2019-07-09 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-429-29491-4 |location=London |doi=10.4324/9780429294914 |s2cid=198632812}}</ref>

Policies regarding the teaching of hanja have historically vacillated, often swayed by the inclinations of individual education ministers. Students in grades 7–12 are presently taught 1,800 characters,{{sfn|Hannas|1997|pp=68–72}} albeit with a principal focus on simple recognition, with the aim of achieving newspaper literacy.<ref name="fischer" /> Hanja retains its prominence in Korean academia, as the vast majority of Korean documents, history, and literature (such as the ''[[Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty]]'') were written in Literary Chinese using hanja. Therefore, a working knowledge of Chinese characters is still important for anyone wishing to interpret and study older Korean texts, or anyone who wishes to read scholarship in the humanities. Working knowledge of hanja is also useful for understanding the etymology of Sino-Korean vocabulary.<ref name="BAS">{{Cite book |last=Byon |first=Andrew Sangpil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QP8nDwAAQBAJ&q=sino-korean+words&pg=PA4 |title=Modern Korean Grammar: A Practical Guide |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-351-74129-3 |pages=3–18}}</ref>

==== North Korea ====
A 1949 law in North Korea apparently banned the use of all so-called foreign languages, which has been interpreted as including hanja. However, due to the country's isolation accurate reports about its use of hanja are difficult to obtain. A textbook for university history departments published in the country in 1971 contained 3,323 distinct characters, and in the 1990s North Korean school children were still expected to learn 2,000 characters, more than in South Korea or Japan.{{sfn|Hannas|1997|p=68}} A 2013 textbook appears to integrate the use of hanja in secondary school education.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-03-14 |title=북한의 한문교과서를 보다 |language=ko |work=Chosun NK |url=http://nk.chosun.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=155532 }}</ref> Currently, North Korea is estimated to teach around 3,000 hanja to North Korean students by the time they graduate university; in some cases, the characters appear within advertisements and newspapers, but cultural use is narrower than in the South, mostly restricted to dictionaries and textbooks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kim |first=Hye-jin 김혜진 |date=2001-06-04 |script-title=ko:북한의 한자정책 – "漢字, 3000자까지 배우되 쓰지는 말라" |trans-title=North Korea's Chinese character policy – "Learn up to 3,000 Chinese characters, but do not use them." |url=http://hanmunlove.nazero.net/bbs/zboard.php?id=hanmun5&page=12&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217174225/http://hanmunlove.nazero.net/bbs/zboard.php?id=hanmun5&page=12&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=4 |archive-date=2014-12-17 |access-date=November 21, 2014 |website=Han Mun Love |publisher=[[Chosun Ilbo]] |language=ko}}</ref>

=== Okinawan ===
{{See also|Okinawan language}}

Chinese characters are thought to have been first introduced to the [[Ryukyu Islands]] in 1265 by a Japanese Buddhist monk.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hung |first1=Eva |title=Asian Translation Traditions |last2=Wakabayashi |first2=Judy |date=2005 |publisher=St. Jerome Publishing |isbn=978-1-900-65078-6 |editor-last=Hung |editor-first=Eva |location=Manchester |page=18 |language=en |editor-last2=Wakabayashi |editor-first2=Judy}}</ref> After the Okinawan kingdoms, which included the [[Ryukyu Kingdom]], became tributaries of Ming China, Literary Chinese saw use in court documents, but popular writing and poetry largely used hiragana. After Ryukyu became a vassal of Japan's [[Satsuma Domain]], Chinese characters became more popular, as well as the use of {{lang|ja-latn|kanbun}}. Katakana and hiragana are usually used to write modern [[Okinawan language|Okinawan]], but Chinese characters are still used.

=== Vietnamese ===
[[File:Tale of Kieu parallel text.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|The first two lines of the classic Vietnamese epic poem ''[[The Tale of Kiều]]'', written in both {{langr|vi|chữ Nôm}} and the Vietnamese alphabet{{legend|#149f78|Borrowed characters representing Sino-Vietnamese words}}
{{legend|#7671b4|Borrowed characters representing native Vietnamese words}}
{{legend|#da5f00|Invented {{langr|vi|chữ Nôm}} representing native Vietnamese words}}]]{{Main|Chữ Hán}}
{{See also|Literary Chinese in Vietnam}}

Until the early 20th century, Literary Chinese ({{langr|vi|Hán văn}}) was used for all official or scholarly writing in Vietnam. However, the {{langr|vi|chữ Nôm}} script began to be developed around the 13th century to record folk literature in the Vietnamese language. Chinese characters, called {{langr|vi|[[chữ Hán]]}} ({{lang|vi-Hani|𡨸漢}}), {{langr|vi|chữ Nho}} ({{lang|vi-Hani|𡨸儒}}), or {{langr|vi|Hán tự}} ({{lang|vi-Hani|漢字}}), are now limited to ceremonial use in Vietnam. <!-- i think this is a good exception to the 'don't put characters next to linked terms' rule in MOS:ZH-->

The oldest written Chinese text found in Vietnam is an epigraphy dated to the year 618, erected by local Sui officials in {{langr|vi|[[Thanh Hóa province|Thanh Hóa]]}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kiernan |first=Ben |title=Viet Nam: A History from Earliest Times to the Present |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-19-062730-0 |page=108 |language=en}}</ref> Similar to Zhuang [[sawndip]], some {{langr|vi|chữ Nôm}} characters were created by combining semantic character components with phonetic components that resembled Vietnamese syllables.{{sfn|Kornicki|2018|p=63}} This process resulted in a highly complex system whose use was limited to a small portion of the Vietnamese population, never more than 5%.{{sfn|DeFrancis|1977|p=19}} The oldest {{langr|vi|chữ Nôm}} written alongside Chinese is a Buddhist inscription dated to 1209.{{sfn|Kornicki|2018|p=63}} Before 1945, the library of the [[French School of the Far East]] (EFEO) in Hanoi collected a total of around 20,000 Chinese and Vietnamese epigraphy rubbings from throughout Indochina.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clementin-Ojha |first1=Catherine |title=A Century in Asia: The History of the École Française D'Extrême-Orient, 1898–2006 |last2=Manguin |first2=Pierre-Yves |last3=Reid |first3=Helen |publisher=Editions Didier Millet |year=2007 |isbn=978-9-81415-597-7 |page=141 |language=en}}</ref> The oldest surviving extant manuscript in Vietnamese is a late 15th-century bilingual copy of the Buddhist ''[[Sutra of Filial Piety]]'', currently kept by the EFEO. It features Chinese text in larger characters, and an [[Old Vietnamese]] translation in smaller characters glossing the text.{{sfn|Handel|2019|p=135}} Every {{langr|vi|Hán Nôm}} book in Vietnam after the ''{{langr|vi|Phật thuyết}}'' is dated between the 17th and the 20th centuries, with most being hand-copied works, and few printed texts. By 1987, the library of the [[Institute of Hán-Nôm Studies]] in Hanoi had collected a total of 4,808 {{langr|vi|Hán Nôm}} manuscripts.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Shih |first1=Chih-yu |title=China Studies In South And Southeast Asia: Between Pro-china And Objectivism |last2=Manomaivibool |first2=Prapin |last3=Marwah |first3=Reena |publisher=World Scientific Publishing Company |year=2018 |isbn=978-9-81323-526-7 |page=117 |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Page of Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh.png|thumb|left|upright=0.9|A page from a bilingual copy of the ''Sutra of Filial Piety'', with Literary Chinese alongside an early form of {{langr|vi|chữ Nôm}}, representing the Old Vietnamese pronunciation. Sometimes, pairs of characters are used to represent the consonant clusters present in Old Vietnamese]]
Literary Chinese and {{langr|vi|chữ Nôm}} fell out of use during the French colonial period, and were gradually replaced with the [[Vietnamese alphabet]], which uses Latin characters and remains the primary writing system for Vietnamese.{{sfn|Coulmas|1991|pp=113–115}}{{sfn|DeFrancis|1977|pp=75–219}} Contemporaneous use of {{langr|vi|chữ Hán}} in Vietnam is often connected with traditional culture, such as the practice of calligraphy.
[[File:Clear image of Lệnh thư.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Vietnamese imperial edict in Literary Chinese]]

=== Other languages ===
Several minority languages of [[South China|South]] and [[Southwest China]] were formerly written with scripts based on Chinese characters, but also included many locally created characters. The most extensive is the ''sawndip'' script used to write the [[Zhuang languages]] of [[Guangxi]], which is still in use despite efforts to encourage the writing of Zhuang with a Latin-based alphabet. Other languages written with such scripts include [[Hmongic languages|Miao]], [[Mienic languages|Yao]], [[Bouyei language#Ancient Bouyei script|Bouyei]], [[Mulam language|Mulam]], [[Kam language|Kam]], [[Bai language|Bai]], and [[Hani language|Hani]].<ref name="Zhou">{{Cite journal |last=Zhou |first=Youguang |author-mask=Zhou Youguang (周有光) |date=1991 |editor-last=Mair |editor-first=Victor H. |title=The Family of Chinese Character-Type Scripts (Twenty Members and Four Stages of Development) |url=http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp028_chinese_scripts.html |journal=Sino-Platonic Papers |language=en |volume=28 |access-date=June 7, 2011 |author-link= Zhou Youguang |editor-link= Victor H. Mair}}</ref> All these languages are now officially written using Latin-based scripts. According to surveys, traditional sawndip script has twice as many users as the official Latin script.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Tang |first=Weiping |url=http://www.doc88.com/p-644582398739.html |author-mask=Tang Weiping (唐未平) |trans-title=A Survey and Study on the Use Status and Literary Culture Attitude towards the Guanxi Zhuang Writing System—Using Counties Tianyang, Tiandong and Donglan as Examples |script-title=zh:广西壮族人文字使用现状及文字社会声望调查研究—以田阳、田东、东兰三县为例 |language=zh |degree=碩士 |institution=Guangxi Daxue |date=2006 }}</ref>

The dynasties founded by non-Han peoples that ruled northern China between the 10th and 13th centuries developed scripts that were inspired by Chinese characters but did not use them directly: the [[Khitan large script]], [[Khitan small script]], [[Tangut script]], and [[Jurchen script]]—though Chinese characters were used to phonetically transcribe the language of the Jurchen people, renamed the 'Manchu' after the founding of the [[Qing dynasty]]. Other scripts within China that have adapted a few Chinese characters but are otherwise distinct include the [[Geba script]], [[Sui script]], [[Yi script]], and the [[Lisu syllabary]].<ref name="Zhou" />

==== Transcription ====
{{Main|Transcription into Chinese characters}}
[[File:Secret history.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Excerpt from the ''[[Secret History of the Mongols]]'' featuring Chinese characters used to write Mongolian, with glosses to the right of each row]]
Along with the [[Persian alphabet|Persian]] and [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]] scripts, the [[Mongolian language]] was also written with Chinese characters phonetically transcribing Mongolian sounds. Notably, the only surviving copies of ''[[The Secret History of the Mongols]]'' were written in such a manner.

According to the 19th century missionary John Gulick:
{{blockquote|"The inhabitants of other Asiatic nations, who have had occasion to represent the words of their several languages by Chinese characters, have as a rule used unaspirated characters for the sounds g, d, b. The Muslims from Arabia and Persia have followed this method ... The Mongols, Manchu, and Japanese also constantly select unaspirated characters to represent the sounds g, d, b, and j of their languages. These surrounding Asiatic nations, in writing Chinese words in their own alphabets, have uniformly used g, d, b, etc., to represent the unaspirated sounds."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gulick |first=John |date=1870 |title=On the Best Method of Representing the Unaspirated Mutes of the Mandarin Dialect |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PcELAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA153 |journal=The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal |language=en |volume=3 |pages=153–155}}</ref>}}

== Special cases ==
=== Contractions and abbreviations ===
Some compound words and set phrases have been represented by single-character contractions, often considered [[Ligature (writing)|ligatures]] instead of characters representing a single morpheme. They are often used in handwriting or for decorative purposes, but are sometimes seen in print. They are called {{zhi|c=合文|p=héwén}}, {{zhi|s=合书|t=合書|p=héshū}} or {{zhi|s=合体字|t=合體字|p=hétǐzì}} in Chinese; in the special case where two characters are combined, they are known as {{zhl|s=双音节汉字|t=雙音節漢字|p=shuāngyīnjié hànzì|l=two-syllable characters}}. For the sake of standardisation, the Chinese government has sought to limit the use of polysyllabic characters in writing.{{sfn|Mair|2011}} A popular example is the '[[Double Happiness (calligraphy)|double happiness]]' character {{zhi|c=囍}} formed as a ligature of {{zhi|c=喜喜}}, and referred to by its disyllabic name {{zhi|s=双喜|t=雙喜|p=shuāngxǐ}}.{{efn-ua|{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Education Encyclopedia|title=囍|lang=zh|url=https://pedia.cloud.edu.tw/Entry/Detail?title=%E5%9B%8D}}}}

Numerals are also sometimes written as ligatures—for example, {{zhi|c=廿|p=niàn|l=twenty}} is normally read as {{zhi|c=二十|p=èrshí}} in Standard Chinese,{{efn-ua|{{Cite news |last1=Li |first1=Na |author1-mask=Li Na (李娜) |last2=Chen |first2=Shuangxin |author2-mask=Chen Shuangxin (陈双新) |date=2018-08-12 |title="廿"该怎么读 |language=zh |trans-title=How to pronounce "廿" |work=news.gmw.cn |publisher=Guangming Online |url=https://news.gmw.cn/2018-08/12/content_30469824.htm |access-date=2023-10-31}}}}{{sfn|Mair|2011}} and as {{transliteration|yue|jaa<sup>6</sup>}} in Cantonese.<ref name="Matthews_Yip_2011">{{Cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=Stephen |title=Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar |last2=Yip |first2=Virginia |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-47131-2 |edition=2nd |location=London |page=445 |language=en}}</ref> Calendars often use this and other numeral ligatures to save space, with {{zhi|c=廿}} being standard. Thus, one may write "21 March" as {{zhi|c=三月廿一}}.

In oracle bone script, personal names, ritual items, and even whole phrases were contracted into single characters: for example, {{zhc|c=受又|p=shòu yòu|l=receive blessings}} becomes {{zhc|c=祐|p=yòu}}. An example found in medieval manuscripts writes {{zhl|t=菩薩|p=púsà|l=bodhisattva}} as a contracted character, composed of four {{zhi|c=十}} arranged in a 2×2 grid, derived from the {{kxr|艹|v=y}} components within the original characters. Other historical examples include contractions used to represent [[International System of Units|SI units]], which have generally fallen out of use. In Chinese, SI units usually consist of two morphemes, such as {{zhl|c=厘米|p=límǐ|l=centimetre}} and {{zhl|c=千瓦|p=qiānwǎ|l=kilowatt}}. In the 19th century, these were often contracted, with {{zhi|c=瓩}} used for {{zhi|c=千瓦}} and {{zhi|c=糎}} used for {{zhi|c=厘米}}. Some of these were also used in Japan, where they used pronunciations borrowed from European languages. Miscellaneous examples include {{zhc|t=圕|s=𱕸|p=tuān}}, a contraction of {{zhc|t=圖書館|s=图书馆|p=túshūguǎn|l=library}}.{{efn-ua|{{cite web |date=2006-04-21 |title="圕" zì zěnme niàn? Shénme yìsi? Shéi zào de? |script-title=zh:"圕"字怎么念？什么意思？谁造的？ |url=http://www.stnn.cc/culture/splend/t20060421_196261.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003225619/http://www.stnn.cc/culture/splend/t20060421_196261.html |archive-date=2011-10-03 |website=Singtao Net |language=zh}}{{pb}}{{cite news |date=2009-03-20 |title="圕" zì zì zěnme niàn? Tái jiàoyù bùmén fùzé rén bèi kǎo dào |script-title=zh: "圕"字字怎么念？台教育部门负责人被考倒 |language=zh |work=[[Xinhua News Agency]] |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/tw/2009-03/20/content_11038042.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325001008/http://news.xinhuanet.com/tw/2009-03/20/content_11038042.htm |archive-date=2009-03-25}}}}

=== Multi-syllable morphemes ===
A small number of morphemes in Chinese are disyllabic, some of which even date back to the Classical period.{{sfn|Norman|1988|pp=8–9}} Excluding loanwords, these are typically words for plants and small animals, usually written with a pair of phono-semantic compounds sharing a common radical. Examples are {{zhc|c=蝴蝶|p=húdié|l=butterfly}} and {{zhc|c=珊瑚|p=shānhú|l=coral}}—the first character of 'butterfly' and the second character of 'coral' each have {{zhi|c=胡}} for a phonetic component, with the {{kxr|insect}} and {{kxr|jade}} radicals as their respective semantic components, also present within the other character of each word. Neither of the aforementioned {{transliteration|zh|hú}} characters exist as independent morphemes, except as poetic abbreviations of the disyllabic words.

A notable example regards the name for the [[pipa]], a type of lute. The instrument's name {{zhi|c=枇杷}} was originally shared with one for the [[loquat]],{{efn|Compare {{zhi|t=盧橘|s=卢橘|j=lou4 gwat1}}, an unrelated name for the fruit which was eventually borrowed from Cantonese into English.}} which has a shape reminiscent of the instrument. The name for the instrument was originally written with the {{kxr|扌|v=true}} radical as {{zhi|c=批把}},  referring to the upward and downward strokes made when playing the instrument. The name for the fruit was later changed to its present {{zhi|c=枇杷}}, with the {{kxr|tree}} radical; the name for the instrument became {{zhi|c=琵琶}}, with {{lang|und-Hani|珡}} ('[[guqin]]') incorporated into both characters.{{efn-ua|{{Cite encyclopedia |title=琵 |lang=zh|encyclopedia=Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants|publisher=Taiwan Ministry of Education |url=https://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/variants/rbt/word_attribute.rbt?educode=A02581}}{{pb}} {{Cite encyclopedia|title=琶|lang=zh| encyclopedia=Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants|publisher=Taiwan Ministry of Education|url=https://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/variants/rbt/word_attribute.rbt?educode=A02582}}}}

The [[erhua]] phenomenon in some varieties of Mandarin is transcribed with by means of a {{lang|cmn|儿}}; {{transliteration|cmn|ér}} suffix. As such, some monosyllabic words may be written with two characters, such as {{zhp|c=花儿|p=huār|l=flower}}.

=== Rare and complex characters ===
Rare or antiquated character variants appear more often in personal or place names. Extremely stroke-rich characters tend to be rare. One of the most complex characters found in modern Chinese dictionaries is {{zhc|c=齉|p=nàng|l=snuffle}} with 36 strokes.{{efn-ua|It is found, for instance, on p. 707 of ''A Chinese–English Dictionary'', (Revised Edition) Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Beijing, 1995. {{ISBN|978-7-5600-0739-7}}.}} Stroke-rich characters are often composed of other characters in triplicate or quadruplicate, such as the triplicated {{zhc|c=靐|p=bìng}} with 39 strokes, and the quadruplicated {{zhc|c=䨻|p=bèng}} with 52, both meaning 'the loud noise of thunder'. {{zhc|c=龘|p=dá|l=appearance of a dragon in flight}} consists of the {{kxr|dragon}} radical in triplicate, for a total of 48 strokes. {{zhc|c=鬱|p=yù|l=luxuriant, lush, gloomy}} is the character with the most strokes in the {{transl|ja|[[jōyō kanji]]}} list, with 29. In Japanese, an 84-stroke {{transl|ja|kokuji}} exists: [[File:Taito 1.svg|25px]], normally read {{transl|ja|[[Taito (kanji)|taito]]}}. It is composed of the 'cloud' character {{lang|ja|䨺}} atop the aforementioned triple-'dragon' character, also meaning 'appearance of a dragon in flight'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=漢字の現在：幽霊文字からキョンシー文字へ？ |trans-title=From Ghost Character to Vampire Character? |url=http://dictionary.sanseido-publ.co.jp/wp/2011/02/08/漢字の現在：幽霊文字からキョンシー文字へ？/ |access-date=January 24, 2015 |website=dictionary.sanseido-publ.co.jp |language=ja}}</ref>

<gallery class="center">
File:Nàng.svg|{{transliteration|zh|Nàng}}, 'snuffle'
File:Taito 2.svg|{{transliteration|ja|[[Taito (kanji)|Taito]]}}, 'appearance of a dragon in flight'
File:Taito 1.svg|Alternative form of {{transliteration|ja|taito}}
</gallery>

== Standardisation ==
In each region, the latest published standards for character forms are:
{| style="text-align:center" class="wikitable"
! scope="col" | Polity !! scope="col" | Standard  !! scope="col" | Characters !! scope="col" | Latest revision<br />
|-
| {{flag|China}} || style="text-align:left" | ''[[Table of General Standard Chinese Characters]]'' || {{val|8105}} || 2013<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 June 2013 |script-title= zh:国务院关于公布《通用规范汉字表》的通知 |trans-title=Notice of the State Council on the Publication of the "General Standard Chinese Character List" |url=http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2013-08/19/content_2469793.htm |publisher=[[State Council of the People's Republic of China]] |language=zh}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Hong Kong}} || style="text-align:left" | ''[[List of Graphemes of Commonly-Used Chinese Characters]]'' || {{val|4762}} || 2012<ref>{{Cite book |publisher=Hong Kong Education Bureau |year=2012 |isbn=978-9-888-12393-3 |language=zh |script-title=zh:常用字字形表: 二零零七年重排本 : 附粤普字音及英文解釋 |trans-title=Commonly Used Characters Glyph Table: 2007 Rearranged Edition with Cantonese and Mandarin Pronunciations and English Explanations}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan=3 | {{flag|Taiwan}}<br />{{efn|Collectively the ''[[Standard Form of National Characters]]'', which has been published online in full by Taiwan's Ministry of Education since 2017.<ref name=twmoe2017>{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=異體字字典 |url=https://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw |website=Taiwan Ministry of Education |language=zh}}</ref>}} || style="text-align:left" | ''[[Chart of Standard Forms of Common National Characters]]'' || {{val|4808}} || 1983<ref>{{Cite book |publisher=Zhengzhong shuju |year=1983 |isbn=978-9-570-90664-6 |location=Taipei |language=zh |script-title=zh:常用國字標準字體表 |trans-title=Chart of Standard Forms of Common National Characters}}</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:left" | ''Chart of Standard Forms of Less-Than-Common National Characters'' || {{val|6341}} || 1983{{sfn|Lunde|2008|pp=81–82}}
|-
| style="text-align:left" | ''Chart of Rarely-Used National Characters'' || {{val|18388}} || 2017<ref name=twmoe2017 />
|-
| {{flag|Japan}} || style="text-align:left" | ''[[Jōyō kanji]]'' || {{val|2136}} || 2010<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASDG22043_U0A121C1CR0000/|script-title=ja:改定常用漢字表、30日に内閣告示 閣議で正式決定|trans-title=The Amended List of Jōyō Kanji Receives Cabinet Notice on 30th: To Be Officially Confirmed in Cabinet Meeting.|publisher=Nihon Keizai Shimbun|language=ja|date=24 November 2010|access-date=1 February 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235620/http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASDG22043_U0A121C1CR0000/|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|South Korea}} || style="text-align:left" | ''[[Basic Hanja for Educational Use]]'' || 1800 || 2000{{sfn|Lunde|2008|pp=84}}
|}

In the modern period, each polity using Chinese characters has standardised their forms, pronunciation, and stroke orders. Most characters have a single standard stroke order, but some may differ by region, occasionally resulting in different stroke counts. 
=== Received forms ===
[[File:CJK 次 glyph variants.svg|right|upright=0.75|thumb|From left to right: the regional forms for the character {{lang|und-Hani|次}} in the Noto Serif CJK typeface family, as used in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong (top), as well as in Japan and Korea (bottom)]]{{Main|Jiu zixing}}
With the use of woodblock printing and the compilation of large character dictionaries such as the 1716 ''Kangxi Dictionary'', there was a considerable standardisation in forms prior to the later efforts of the 20th century, especially during the Ming.

=== Simplified characters ===
{{Main|Simplified Chinese characters}}

Although most closely associated with the PRC, the modern process of character simplification began well before 1949. One of the early proponents of character simplification was [[Lufei Kui]], who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the [[Xinhai Revolution]] and its associated [[May Fourth Movement]], many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals began pointing to the traditional writing system as an obstacle to the modernisation of China, proposing that it should either be reformed or abolished entirely.

[[File:ROC24 SC1.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The first standardised list of simplified forms, introduced in 1935 and consisting of 324 characters{{sfn|Chen|1999|pp=153}}]]
During the 1930s and 1940s, discussions on character simplification took place within the [[Kuomintang]] government, and a large number of the intelligentsia maintained that character simplification would help boost literacy throughout the country.<ref>{{Cite web |script-title= zh:简化字的昨天、今天和明天 |trans-title=Simplified Chinese characters for yesterday, today and tomorrow | script-work= zh:乾坤再造在中华 | author-mask= Lü Bolin (呂柏林) | last= 呂 | first= 柏林 |url=http://bolin.netfirms.com/087.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714164833/http://bolin.netfirms.com/087.htm |archive-date=2011-07-14 |language=zh}}</ref>{{sfn|Chen|1999|pp=150–153}} In 1935, a table of 324 simplified characters collected by [[Qian Xuantong]] was  introduced as the first official batch of simplified characters; however, it was rescinded in 1936 due to fierce opposition within the party.
{{multiple images|direction=vertical|width = 100px| image1=們-order.gif|caption1=Traditional ({{zhi|t=們}})| image2=们-order.gif|caption2=Simplified ({{zhi|s=们}})|footer=Comparison of strokes between character forms,{{efn|The character {{zhi|t=們|s=们}} is a plural suffix particle for pronouns.}} showing systematic simplification of the component {{kxr|gate}}}}

Cursive script were the source of inspiration for many of the simplified forms, while others were already used in print, albeit not for most formal works. With the goal of increasing functional literacy, a major concern at the time, discussions on character simplification took place among Chinese intelligentsia and within the [[Kuomintang]] (KMT) government during the Republican period.{{sfn|Chen|1999|pp=151}} This earlier initiative to simplify the Chinese writing system was later inherited and implemented by the Communists after its subsequent abandonment by the KMT.

Since the 1950s, the PRC has officially encouraged the use of simplified characters on the mainland. Along with the Republic of China, Hong Kong and Macau—at the time still under colonial rule—were not affected by the reform.

==== People's Republic of China ====
{{See also|Xin zixing|Second round of simplified Chinese characters}}
Most simplified forms in use today are the direct result of PRC initiatives during the 1950s and 1960s. Before making the decision to simplify the existing system, some within the PRC, including [[Mao Zedong]], also explored the total replacement of Chinese characters with a phonetic system. Experiments with phonetic Chinese writing were usually based on the Latin alphabet, and included [[Gwoyeu Romatzyh]] and [[Latinxua Sin Wenz]].{{sfn|Chen|1999|pp=182–186}}

The PRC initiated the first round of simplifications with two documents published in 1956 and 1965. The reforms both simplified the forms of many characters in use, and reduced the total number of characters in the lexicon.{{sfn|Chen|1999|pp=154}} The majority of first round characters were drawn from conventional abbreviations or ancient forms.{{sfn|Ramsey|1987|p=147}} For example, the orthodox character {{zhi|c=來|l=to come}} was written as {{zhi|c=来}} in the earlier clerical script. The latter form used one fewer stroke, and was thus adopted as a simplification. The {{zhc|c=雲|l=cloud}} character was written as {{zhi|c=云}} in the ancient oracle bone script. This simpler form had remained in use later as a phonetic loan with a meaning of 'to say', and with the original meaning of 'cloud' it was instead written with an added {{kxr|雨}} radical as a semantic indicator. When using simplified forms, these two characters are merged into {{zhi|s=云}}.{{efn-ua|{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://homeinmists.ilotus.org/hd/hydzd3.php?st=page_no&kw=0175|lang=zh|encyclopedia=[[Hanyu Da Zidian]]|year=1989|title=來|page=175}}{{pb}}{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://homeinmists.ilotus.org/hd/hydzd3.php?st=page_no&kw=4323|lang=zh|encyclopedia=[[Hanyu Da Zidian]]|year=1989|title=雲|page=4323}}}}

A [[second-round simplified Chinese character|second round of simplifications]] was promulgated in 1977, but was poorly received by the public and fell out of official use very quickly. It was ultimately formally rescinded in 1986. The second round of simplifications were unpopular in large part because the vast majority of its forms were completely new, in contrast to the many familiar variants present in the first round.{{sfn|Chen|1999|pp=155–156}}

Two revised lists of simplified forms were published in 1988: the ''[[List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese]]'' with 2,500 common characters and 1,000 less common characters, and the ''Chart of Generally Utilised Characters of Modern Chinese'' with 7,000 characters, including those in the smaller list. In 2013, the revised ''[[Table of General Standard Chinese Characters]]'' supplanted the 1988 lists as the standard. It includes a total of 8,105 characters, with 3,500 categorised as primary, 3,000 as secondary, and 1,605 as tertiary.<ref>{{cite web |script-title = zh:国务院关于公布《通用规范汉字表》的通知 |trans-title=State Council Announcement of the ''Table of General Standard Chinese Characters'' | publisher = Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China | url = http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2013-08/19/content_2469793.htm | date = June 5, 2013 |lang=zh| accessdate=8 November 2023}}</ref> The [[Chinese Proficiency Test]] (HSK) covers 2,663 characters and 5,000 words at its highest level, while the Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education would cover 3,000 characters and 11,092 words at its highest level.<ref>{{cite web |title=China's HSK Language Test to be Overhauled for the First 11 years |date=3 April 2021 |url=https://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2020/05/25/hsk-to-be-overhauled-first-time-in-11-years | work= The Beijinger | type = blog}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | date= 2021-04-09 | script-title= zh:《国际中文教育中文水平等级标准》来了 汉语水平考试会有啥变化 | language= zh | trans-title= HSK 3.0 is here. What changes will there be? | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210520162933/http://jx.people.com.cn/n2/2021/0409/c186330-34666372.html | archive-date= 20 May 2021 | agency= People's Daily Overseas Edition | last= Zhao | first= Xiaoxie | author-mask= Zhao Xiaoxie (赵晓霞) | url= http://jx.people.com.cn/n2/2021/0409/c186330-34666372.html | quote= 日前，《国际中文教育中文水平等级标准》（GF0025-2021）（下称《标准》）由教育部、国家语言文字工作委员会发布，作为国家语委语言文字规范自2021年7月1日起正式实施。......汉语水平考试（HSK）自1984年开创以来已走过37年，经历了基础、初中等、高等"3等11级"的HSK1.0和"一级到六级"6个级别的HSK2.0两个阶段，即将迎来"三等九级"的HSK3.0新阶段。 | access-date= 20 May 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=What is Chinese Proficiency Test? |url=http://help.cucas.edu.cn/index/detail?id=2737 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222224401/http://help.cucas.edu.cn/index/detail?id=2737 |archive-date=2015-12-22 |website= China's University and College Admission System |language=en}}</ref>

==== Singapore ====
{{See also|Singapore Chinese characters}}
Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification promulgated by the [[Ministry of Education (Singapore)|Ministry of Education]], with the first two having some simplifications that differed from those used in mainland China. The first round was published in 1969, and consisted of 498 simplified and 502 traditional characters. The second round in 1974 consisted of 2287 simplified characters, including 49 differences from the PRC system that were removed with the final round in 1976.{{sfn|Chen|1999|pp=161}} In 1993, Singapore adopted the revisions made by mainland China in 1986.

Unlike in mainland China, where personal names may only be registered using simplified characters, Singapore parents have the option of registering their children's names in traditional characters.<ref>{{cite conference |last=Chia |first=Shih Yar |author-mask=Chia Shih Yar (谢世涯) |script-title=zh:新加坡与中国调整简体字的 |trans-title=A Comparative Study of the Revision of Simplified Chinese Characters Proposed by Singapore and China |url=http://www.huayuqiao.org/articles/xieshiya/Simplified/6_XinJiaPoTiaoZhengJianTiZi-XP.htm |conference=Paper presented at The International Conference on Culture of Chinese Character. Convened by Beijing Normal University and Liaoning People Publishing House. Dandong, Liaoning, China. 9-11 Nov 1998 |language=zh |via=huayuqiao.org}}</ref>

==== Malaysia ====
Malaysia uses simplified characters in Chinese-language schools. Chinese-language newspapers in the country are published in either simplified or traditional characters—often, headlines are printed with traditional forms, and the body with simplified forms.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lin|first=Youshun |author-mask=Lin Youshun (林友順) |date=June 2009 |script-title=zh:大馬華社遊走於簡繁之間 |trans-title=The Malaysian Chinese Community Wanders Between Simplified and Traditional Characters |url=https://www.yzzk.com/article/details/%E5%B0%81%E9%9D%A2%E5%B0%88%E9%A1%8C/2009-25/1365566312660/%E5%A4%A7%E9%A6%AC%E8%8F%AF%E7%A4%BE%E9%81%8A%E8%B5%B0%E6%96%BC%E7%B0%A1%E7%B9%81%E4%B9%8B%E9%96%93|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523114033/https://www.yzzk.com/article/details/%E5%B0%81%E9%9D%A2%E5%B0%88%E9%A1%8C/2009-25/1365566312660/%E5%A4%A7%E9%A6%AC%E8%8F%AF%E7%A4%BE%E9%81%8A%E8%B5%B0%E6%96%BC%E7%B0%A1%E7%B9%81%E4%B9%8B%E9%96%93|access-date=30 March 2021|archive-date=23 May 2021|publisher=[[Yazhou Zhoukan]]|language=zh|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Philippines ====
In the Philippines, most Chinese schools and businesses still use traditional characters with bopomofo, owing to Taiwanese influence  due to a shared [[Hokkien]] heritage. Recently, more Chinese schools have switched to using simplified characters alongside pinyin, and many schools use some combination of the two. Since most of the readership of Chinese-language newspapers in the country belong to an older generation, they are still largely published using traditional characters.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://download.atlantis-press.com/article/14695.pdf|title=Several Thoughts on Current Chinese Education in the Philippines|last=Yang|first=Shimin|year=2014|publisher=Atlantis Press|location=Science and Technology College, Jiangxi Normal University|page=197|publication-place=Nanchang}}</ref>

=== Traditional characters ===
{{Main|Traditional Chinese characters}}
[[File:Variants of 漢 in the CJKV languages.png|thumb|upright=0.5|Regional allographs of {{zhi|c=漢}} in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese styles]]

==== Taiwan ====
In Taiwan, the Ministry of Education's ''[[Chart of Standard Forms of Common National Characters]]'' lists 4,808 characters; the ''Chart of Standard Forms of Less-Than-Common National Characters''  lists another 6,341 characters. The [[Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language]] (TOCFL) covers 8,000 words at its highest level. The Taiwan Benchmarks for the Chinese Language (TBCL), a guideline designed to describe levels of Chinese language proficiency, covers 3,100 characters and 14,425 words at the highest level.<ref>{{cite web |title=Taiwan Benchmarks for the Chinese Language |url=https://coct.naer.edu.tw/TBCL/ |publisher=National Academy for Educational Research |quote=The TBCL sets out seven levels of Chinese language proficiency in the five skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating. It also includes lists which contains 3,100 Chinese characters, 14,425 words, and 496 grammar points for learners of level 1 to 5.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lin |first=Qinglong |author-mask=Lin Qinglong (林慶隆) |url=https://coct.naer.edu.tw/download/tech_report/%E6%8A%80%E8%A1%93%E5%A0%B1%E5%91%8A%EF%BC%9A%E3%80%8A%E9%81%A3%E8%BE%AD%E7%94%A8%E3%80%8C%E6%93%9A%E3%80%8D%EF%BC%8D%E8%87%BA%E7%81%A3%E8%8F%AF%E8%AA%9E%E6%96%87%E8%83%BD%E5%8A%9B%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%80%E5%A5%97%E6%A8%99%E6%BA%96%E3%80%8B%E4%BF%AE%E8%A8%82%E7%89%88.pdf |date=2020-08-01 |publisher=National Academy for Educational Research |isbn=9789865460082 |location=Taipei |language=zh |script-title=zh:遣辭用「據」：臺灣華語文能力第一套標準 |trans-title=The First Set of Standards for Chinese Language Proficiency in Taiwan |quote=本字表各級收錄字數：第1級246個字、第2級258個字、第3級297個字；第4級499個字、第5級600個字；第6級600個字、第7級600個字，共計3,100個字。 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520160024/https://coct.naer.edu.tw/download/tech_report/%E6%8A%80%E8%A1%93%E5%A0%B1%E5%91%8A%EF%BC%9A%E3%80%8A%E9%81%A3%E8%BE%AD%E7%94%A8%E3%80%8C%E6%93%9A%E3%80%8D%EF%BC%8D%E8%87%BA%E7%81%A3%E8%8F%AF%E8%AA%9E%E6%96%87%E8%83%BD%E5%8A%9B%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%80%E5%A5%97%E6%A8%99%E6%BA%96%E3%80%8B%E4%BF%AE%E8%A8%82%E7%89%88.pdf |archive-date=2021-05-20 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Hong Kong ====
In Hong Kong, which uses traditional characters, the Education and Manpower Bureau's ''[[List of Graphemes of Commonly-Used Chinese Characters]]'', containing 4,759 characters, is intended for use in elementary and junior secondary education.

==== North America ====
Most Chinese-language newspapers and signage in the United States and Canada use traditional characters.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hua |first=Vanessa |date=2006-05-08 |title=For Students of Chinese, Politics Fill the Characters / Traditionalists Bemoan Rise of Simplified Writing System Promoted by Communist Government to Improve Literacy |url=http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/For-students-of-Chinese-politics-fill-the-2518868.php |access-date=2018-02-28 |website=SFGATE |language=en}}</ref> There is some effort to get municipal governments to implement more simplified character signage due to recent immigration from mainland China.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Kane |first=Mathew |date=November–December 2012 |title=Chinese Character Usage in New York City |url=http://www.atanet.org/chronicle-online/wp-content/uploads/4111_20_mathew_kane.pdf |magazine=The ATA Chronicle |language=en |pages=20–23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215123713/http://www.atanet.org/chronicle-online/wp-content/uploads/4111_20_mathew_kane.pdf |archive-date=2018-12-15 |access-date=2019-07-22}}</ref>

=== Kanji ===
{{Main|Japanese script reform}}
{{further|Differences between Shinjitai and Simplified characters}}
After World War II, the Japanese government also instituted a series of orthographic reforms. Some characters were given simplified forms called {{transl|ja|[[shinjitai]]}}; the older forms were then labelled the {{transl|ja|[[kyūjitai]]}}. The use of numerous variant forms was discouraged, and lists of characters to be learned during each grade of school were created: first the 1850-character {{transl|ja|[[tōyō kanji]]}} list in 1945, and then the 1945-character {{transl|ja|[[jōyō kanji]]}} list in 1981, with a 2136-character revision in 2010. The Japanese government restricts characters that can be used in names to the ''jōyō kanji'' plus an additional list of 983 {{lang|ja-latn|[[jinmeiyō kanji]]}} historically prevalent in names.<ref>{{cite news |language=ja|script-title=ja:人名用漢字に「渾」追加 司法判断を受け法務省 改正戸籍法施行規則を施行、計863字に |trans-title="渾" added to kanji usable in personal names; Ministry of Justice enacts revised Family Registration Law Enforcement Regulations following judicial ruling, totaling 863 characters.|newspaper=The Nikkei |date=2017-09-25 |url=https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXLASDG24H0N_U7A920C1000000/}}</ref> While these lists serve as a guideline, unlisted characters are still widely used by native Japanese speakers, such as the {{transl|ja|kyūjitai}} form of 'dragon' ({{lang|ja|龍}}) alongside the {{transl|ja|shinjitai}} form ({{lang|ja|竜}}).

=== Hanja ===
The South Korean ''[[Basic Hanja for educational use|Basic Hanja for Educational Use]]'' is a set of 1,800 characters standardised in 1972, with the first 900 hanja taught to middle school students, and the rest taught to high school students.{{sfn|Lunde|2008|pp=84}}

In March 1991, the [[Supreme Court of Korea]] published the 2,854-character ''Table of Hanja for Use in Personal Names''.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1991 |url=http://www.korean.go.kr/nkview/nklife/1991_2/2_25.html |title=Summary of the deliberation results of the Korean Language Council on the scope of Chinese characters for personal use |journal=National Academy of the Korean Language |language=ko |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319163239/http://www.korean.go.kr/nkview/nklife/1991_2/2_25.html |archive-date=March 19, 2016}}</ref> The list expanded gradually: by 2015 there were 8,142 hanja, including the [[Hanmun gyoyukyong gicho hanja|set of basic hanja]], permitted for use in [[Korean names]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-10-20 |title='인명용(人名用)' 한자 5761→8142자로 대폭 확대 |language=ko |work=Chosun Ilbo |url=http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2014/10/20/2014102001300.html |access-date=2017-08-23}}</ref>

== Lexicography ==
[[File:Cumulative Hanzi frequency.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|right|Cumulative frequency of simplified Chinese characters in modern text<ref>{{Cite web |last=Da |first=Jun |title= Chinese Text Computing |url=https://lingua.mtsu.edu/chinese-computing/ |date=2010 |language=en}}</ref>]]
{{See also|Chinese character sets|Chinese character orders|Chinese dictionaries}}
Dozens of schemes have been devised for indexing Chinese characters and sorting them into dictionaries. Most of these are specific to the dictionary for which they were invented, and relatively few have seen widespread use. Often, character dictionaries incorporate several mechanisms by which users may locate entries. Methods for arranging Chinese dictionaries are divided into ''form-based'' orders that sort by visual properties, ''sound-based'' orders usually based on an extant transliteration scheme, and ''meaning-based'' orders.{{sfn|Su|2014|p=183}}

Many character dictionaries are indexed using a technique known as [[radical-and-stroke sorting]], where characters are grouped by [[radical (Chinese characters)|radical]], which are in turn sorted by [[stroke number]]. Classification by radical was introduced by the ''[[Shuowen Jiezi]]'', which used 540 radicals. The set of 214 [[Kangxi radicals]] were popularised by the 1716 ''[[Kangxi Dictionary]]'' but were originally introduced in the ''[[Zihui]]'' in 1615. Another form-based system is the [[four-corner method]], where characters are classified according to the shapes at each of the character's corners. In modern Chinese, characters and words are also ordered by their frequency of use within a given [[text corpus|corpus]]. [[Stroke-based sorting]] includes techniques that combine sorting by stroke count and stroke order. Most modern Chinese dictionaries arrange the main character entries alphabetically according to pinyin spelling, while also providing a traditional radical-based index.{{sfn|Yong|Peng|2008|pp=145,400–401}}

Studies have suggested that literate individuals within China have an [[active vocabulary]] of three to four thousand characters, while specialists in fields like classical literature or history may have a working vocabulary of five to six thousand.{{sfn|Norman|1988|p=73}} Estimates of the total number of characters in modern use can be sourced from encoding schemes and dictionaries: according to sources from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea, this number is likely around 15,000.{{sfn|Su|2014|pp=47,51}} There exist roughly 1,500 Japanese ''kokuji'',<ref>{{Cite book |publisher=Tōkyōdō Shuppan |isbn=978-4-490-10279-6 |editor-last=Sugawara |editor-first=Yoshizō |editor-mask=Sugawara Yoshizō (菅原義三) |language=ja |script-title=ja:国字の字典 |trans-title=Dictionary of National Characters |date=18 December 1990 }}</ref> Korean {{transl|ko|[[gukja]]}}, over 10,000 {{langr|za|[[sawndip]]}} used to write Zhuang, and almost 20,000 {{langr|vi|[[Nôm]]}} characters created in Vietnam.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Chữ Nôm and the Taming of the South: A Bilingual Defense for Vernacular Writing in the Chỉ Nam Ngọc Âm Giải Nghĩa|first=John|last=Phan|journal=[[Journal of Vietnamese Studies]]|publisher=University of California Press|year=2013|volume=8|issue=1|page=1|jstor=10.1525/vs.2013.8.1.1|doi=10.1525/vs.2013.8.1.1}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Sister project|project=wiktionary|text=[[:Wiktionary:Appendix:Chinese radical|Radical index]] on Wiktionary}}
{{Sister project|project=wiktionary|text=[[:Wiktionary:Appendix:Chinese total strokes|Total strokes index]] on [[Wiktionary]]}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Adoption of Chinese literary culture]]
* [[Character amnesia]]
* [[Modern Chinese characters]]
* [[Chinese numerals]]
* [[Chinese punctuation]]
* [[Chinese character frequency]]
* [[Chinese character forms]]
* [[Chinese character sounds]]
* [[Chinese character meanings]]
* [[Chinese character education]]
* [[Romanisation of Chinese]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}
{{notelist-lg|refs=
{{efn-lg|name=readings|The standard Mandarin and Cantonese readings are given in [[Hanyu Pinyin]] and Jyutping, respectively. Japanese [[on'yomi]] readings are given in [[rōmaji]].}}
{{efn-lg|name=b-mc|[[Baxter's transcription for Middle Chinese]].}}
{{efn-lg|name=b-oc|[[Reconstructions of Old Chinese#Baxter (1992)|Baxter]] (1992) reconstruction of Old Chinese.}}
{{efn-lg|name=bs-oc|[[Baxter–Sagart]] (2014) reconstruction of Old Chinese.}}}}
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==== Example lexemes ====
{{notelist-ua|colwidth=20em}}

=== Works cited ===
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* {{Cite book |last=Norman |first=Jerry |title=Chinese |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-521-29653-3 |author-link=Jerry Norman (sinologist)}}
* {{Cite book |publisher=Shangwu yinshuguan (The Commercial Press) |year=2004 |isbn=978-7-100-00940-9 |author=Peking University Modern Chinese Language Teaching and Research Office |language=zh |script-title=zh:现代汉语 |trans-title=Modern Chinese |ref={{harvid|Peking University|2004}}}}
* {{Cite book |last=Pulleyblank |first=Edwin G. |title=Middle Chinese: A Study in Historical Phonology |publisher=University of British Columbia Press |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-774-80192-8 |location=Vancouver |author-link=Edwin G. Pulleyblank}}
* {{Cite book |last=Qiu |first=Xigui |title=Chinese Writing |publisher=Society for the Study of Early China and The Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-557-29071-7 |location=Berkeley |translator-last=Gilbert L. Mattos |author-mask=Qiu Xigui (裘锡圭) |author-link=Qiu Xigui |orig-date=1988 |translator2-last=Norman|translator2-first=Jerry}}
* {{Cite book |last=Qiu |first=Xigui |publisher=Shangwu yinshuguan (The Commercial Press) |year=2013 |isbn=978-7-100-09369-9 |edition=2nd |location=Beijing |language=zh |script-title=zh:文字学概要 |trans-title=Chinese Writing |author-mask=3 |author-link=Qiu Xigui}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ramsey |first=S. Robert |title=The Languages of China |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-691-01468-5}}
* {{Cite journal |year=2013 |title=The reality of compound ideographs |journal=[[Journal of Chinese Linguistics]] |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=255–272 |jstor=23754815 |given1=Geoffrey |surname1=Sampson |given2=Zhiqun |surname2=Chen |author2-mask = Chen Zhiqun (陳志群) |author1-link= Geoffrey Sampson}}
* {{Cite book |last=Su |first=Peicheng |publisher=Shangwu yinshuguan (The Commercial Press) |year=2014 |isbn=978-7-100-10440-1 |edition=3rd |location=Beijing |language=zh |script-title=zh:现代汉字学纲要 |trans-title=Essentials of Modern Chinese Characters |author-mask=Su Peicheng (苏培成)}}
* {{Citation |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode15.1.0/ |title=Unicode Standard, Version 15.1.0 |publisher=Unicode Consortium |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-936-21332-0 |location=Mountain View, CA |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Endymion |title=Chinese History: A New Manual |publisher=Harvard-Yenching Institute; Harvard University Asia Center |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-674-06715-8 |series=Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series, vol. 85 |location=Cambridge, MA |author-link=Endymion Wilkinson}}
* {{Cite thesis |last=Williams |first=Clay H. |title=Semantic vs. phonetic decoding strategies in non-native readers of Chinese |year=2010 |degree=Ph.D. |url=http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/bitstream/10150/195163/1/azu_etd_10830_sip1_m.pdf |institution=University of Arizona Graduate College of Second Language Acquisition & Teaching |hdl=10150/195163 |hdl-access= free |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/bitstream/10150/195163/1/azu_etd_10830_sip1_m.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book |last=Yang |first=Runlu |publisher=Beijing Normal University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-7-303-09437-0 |language=zh |script-title=zh:现代汉字学 |trans-title=Modern Chinese Characters |author-mask=Yang Runlu (杨润陆)}}
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* {{Cite book |last=Yip |first=Po-ching |title=The Chinese Lexicon: A Comprehensive Survey |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-415-15174-0}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Yong |first1=Heming |title=Chinese Lexicography: A History from 1046&nbsp;BC to AD&nbsp;1911 |last2=Peng |first2=Jing |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-191-56167-2}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Zhang |first=Xiaoheng |author-mask=Zhang Xiaoheng (张小衡) |year=2006 |script-title=zh:字形的 '号制' '点制' 与 '米制' |trans-title=The Number, Point and Metric Systems of Font Size |language=zh |volume=42 |issue=10 |pages=175–177,215 |trans-work=Computer Engineering and Applications |script-journal=zh:计算机工程与应用}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Zhang |first1=Xiaoheng |last2=Li |first2=Xiaotong |publisher=Yuwen chubanshe (The Language Press) |year=2013 |isbn=978-7-802-41670-3 |location=Beijing |language=zh |script-title=zh:一二三笔顺检字手册 |trans-title=Handbook of the YES Sorting Method |ref={{harvid|Zhang|2013}}  |author-mask=3 |author2-mask=Li Xiaotong (李笑通) }}
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* {{Cite book |last=Zhou |first=Youguang |title=The Historical Evolution of Chinese Languages and Scripts |publisher=National East Asian Languages Resource Center, Ohio State University |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-87415-349-1 |location=Columbus |language=en,zh |translator-last=Zhang |translator-first=Liqing |script-title=zh:中国语文的时代演进 |author-mask=Zhou Youguang (周有光) |author-link=Zhou Youguang |translator-mask=Zhang Liqing (张立青)}}
{{Refend}}
{{PD-old-text|title=[[Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal]], vol. 3|year=1871|author=}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Galambos |first=Imre |url=http://shahon.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Galambos-2006-Orthography-of-early-Chinese-writing.pdf |title=Orthography of Early Chinese Writing: Evidence from Newly Excavated Manuscripts |publisher=Eötvös Loránd University |year=2006 |isbn=978-9-634-63811-7 |location=Budapest |language=en |author-link=Imre Galambos |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515141505/http://shahon.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Galambos-2006-Orthography-of-early-Chinese-writing.pdf |archive-date=2012-05-15 |url-status=live}}

===Works of historical interest===
{{ref begin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Medhurst |first=Walter Henry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h380AQAAIAAJ |title=Chinese and English dictionary |publisher=Walter Henry Medhurst |year=1842 |location=Parapattan |author-link=Walter Henry Medhurst}}
* {{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Samuel Wells |url=https://archive.org/details/easylessonsinch01willgoog |title=Easy lessons in Chinese |publisher=Office of the Chinese Repository |year=1842 |author-link=Samuel Wells Williams}}
* {{Cite book |last=Edkins |first=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_YdBAAAAYAAJ |title=Introduction to the study of the Chinese characters |publisher=Trübner |year=1876 |author-link=Joseph Edkins}}
* {{Cite book |last=Chalmers |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/anaccountstruct01chalgoog |title=An account of the structure of Chinese characters under 300 primary forms |publisher=Trübner |year=1882 |author-link=John Chalmers (missionary)}}
* {{Cite book |last=Giles |first=Herbert Allen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l3EgAQAAMAAJ |title=A Chinese–English dictionary |publisher=B. Quaritch |year=1892 |volume=1 |author-link=Herbert Giles}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDQrAAAAYAAJ |title=Chinese and English dictionary |publisher=American Tract Society |year=1893}}
* {{Cite book |last=Poletti |first=P. |url=https://archive.org/details/achineseandengl00polegoog |title=A Chinese and English dictionary |publisher=American Presbyterian Mission Press |year=1896}}
* {{Cite book |last=Soothill |first=William Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8nwuAAAAYAAJ |title=The student's four thousand characters and general pocket dictionary |publisher=American Presbyterian Mission Press |year=1900 |edition=2nd |author-link=William Edward Soothill}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tung |first=Tai |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fkc7AAAAIAAJ |title=The Six Scripts |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1954 |isbn=978-1-107-60515-2 |translator-last=Hopkins |translator-first=L.C. |author-mask=Tai Tung (戴侗)}}
{{ref end}}

== External links ==
{{wtc|Han script}}
{{Commons|Chinese character|Chinese characters}}
<!-- Note: Links EXPLAINING Chinese characters are welcome. Links to translation services or learning products will be deleted. -->

=== Online references and databases ===
* [https://www.unicode.org/charts/unihan.html Unihan Database] – Official [[Unicode]] site on Chinese characters and Han unification, with reference glyphs, readings, and meanings for all characters encoded in the standard
* [https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en Chinese Text Project Dictionary] – Comprehensive character dictionary, including data for all Chinese characters within Unicode, and exemplary examples of use in Classical Chinese texts
* [https://zi.tools/ zi.tools] – Character lookup by component description, character etymology, phonology, orthography, and dictionary
* [https://hanziyuan.net/ Chinese Etymology] by Richard Sears
* [https://lingua.mtsu.edu/chinese-computing/ Chinese text computing] – Statistics regarding the use of Chinese characters, by Jun Da

=== Character history and construction ===
* [http://www.pinyin.info/readings/texts/visible/index.html Excerpt from ''Visible Speech: The Diverse Oneness of Writing Systems''] by John DeFrancis, published in 1989 by [[University of Hawai{{okina}}i Press]], reproduced with permission

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