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Mandarin Roots

Hanzi, as a picture

Hanzi from the oracle bones up — 500 characters, each with a hand-written etymology narrative, browsable by meaning cluster, radical, JLPT level, Japanese school grade, or Chinese frequency. Free.

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Browse by radical root

Each radical is a root of meaning. Characters are grouped by shared root, from the simplest radicals up.

1-stroke radicals
one7
2-stroke radicals
person24
eight3
knife6
power5
ten5
legs4
again3
3-stroke radicals
mouth21
enclosure7
earth5
big4
woman9
child5
roof9
small3
mountain3
cloth6
bow5
evening5
inch3
广shelter6
4-stroke radicals
heart15
hand7
sun16
moon4
tree14
water18
fire5
stop4
5-stroke radicals
field5
eye6
altar / spirit6
jade3
white3
arrow3
grain3
6-stroke radicals
bamboo7
silk13
grass7
sheep3
meat / flesh6
meat / flesh11
7-stroke radicals
see3
shell7
walk11
village3
speech10
8-stroke radicals
metal4
rain7
gate3
mound3
9-stroke radicals
head4
eat4
10-stroke radicals
horse3
15-stroke radicals
tooth3
Other radicals

Radicals with a single character each, in difficulty order.

èr
jiǔ
chuān
wén
quǎn
zhōng
shí
zuǒ
kǎo
xuè
ěr
cháng
yào
yīn
zhèng
fēng
hòu
jiǔ
gōng
niú
fāng
huà
nèi
yuán
yòng
shēng
chū
běi
xiě
zhǔ
píng
dōng
mín
lìng
gān
xíng
nián
西
měi
jiāo
chóng
zǒu
chē
mài
shēng
xíng
shè
chì
xīn
chén
shì
biǎo
kōng
zhě
suǒ
qīng
jīng
dài
fēi
miàn
shǒu
duàn
chéng
gāo
shū
yuàn
liào
xià
yuán
jiàng
jiào
māo
hēi
niǎo
dài
jiē
qīng
xīn
shù
zuì
xuē
wén
wán
máo
shé
jiǎo
mài
shū
dòng
huáng
chuán
chuāng
jiù
míng
páo
miàn
è

Other ways in

01

By meaning

Speech and rule
41 chars
Shapes of the heart
35 chars
The flow of time
34 chars
Numbers
32 chars
Going and coming
30 chars
Home and road
27 chars
All 24 clusters
02

By JLPT

N5
70 chars
N4
153 chars
N3
141 chars
N2
59 chars
N1
26 chars
03

By Japanese grade

小1 (G1)
小2 (G2)
小3 (G3)
小4 (G4)
小5 (G5)
小6 (G6)
中学 (JHS)
04

By frequency tier

Top 100
50% of text
Top 500
85% of text
Top 1,000
95% of text
Top 2,000
99% of text
05

By radical

人 person
24 chars
口 mouth
21 chars
水 water
18 chars
日 sun
16 chars
心 heart
15 chars
木 tree
14 chars
糸 silk
13 chars
辵 walk
11 chars
言 speech
10 chars
女 woman
9 chars
宀 roof
9 chars
一 one
7 chars
囗 enclosure
7 chars
手 hand
7 chars
竹 bamboo
7 chars
艸 grass
7 chars
貝 shell
7 chars
雨 rain
7 chars
刀 knife
6 chars
巾 cloth
6 chars
广 shelter
6 chars
目 eye
6 chars
肉 meat / flesh
6 chars
力 power
5 chars

All Clusters · 34

Nature

In the sky
14 chars
What flows
6 chars
What burns
3 chars
On the earth
8 chars
What grows
5 chars
What breathes
4 chars
Animals beside us
6 chars
Flowers and grass
5 chars
The weather's moods
10 chars

Body

The face
15 chars
Limbs
6 chars
Inside the body
5 chars
Parts of the body
20 chars

People

Family
21 chars
Roles people take
14 chars
Shapes of the heart
35 chars
Words and writing
18 chars
Speech and rule
41 chars

Living

Home and road
27 chars
What we eat
21 chars
What we wear
7 chars
Tools we use
18 chars
What wraps the body
10 chars
What has price
10 chars

Motion

Going and coming
30 chars
Making and breaking
11 chars
The flow of time
34 chars
Daily gestures
9 chars

Abstract

Numbers
32 chars
Pointing words
13 chars
Size and degree
14 chars
Qualities
13 chars
Places and distance
12 chars
What makes writing
3 chars
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