Strokes and Stroke Order of Chinese Characters

13 Principles for Stroke Order in Chinese Characters

Principle 1-5

  • 6. for a radical/character with a bottom enclosure (either 2- or 3-sided), write the contents inside first, then write the enclosure

  • 7. For a radical/character with a 4-sided enclosure, write the top 3-sided enclosure first, then write the content inside; write the bottom horizontal stroke to close up the closure last

  • 8. For a radical/character with a central vertical stroke (without crossing any other strokes), write this vertical stroke first, then contents on its left and right

  • 9. For a radical/character that is mostly symmetrical, or with a horizontal stroke plus a vertical stroke as a central structure, write the central structure first, then write contents on its left and right

  • 10. Write the horizontal stroke at the bottom of a radical/character (if there is one) last

  • 11. Write any dot which is top-right, bottom-right or inside an enclosure last

  • 12. For characters with radical , write the horizontal stroke first, then write the other strokes of the character, before writing the diagonal stroke and the top-right dot last

  • 13. Write the horizontal/vertical stroke which passes through the whole structure of a character last