Advertisements

Making Chinese characters easy to write.

Sister Sites

Five Elements Test

About•Privacy Policy•Terms of Service

DICTIONARY

Chinese Dictionary
Pinyin Index
Radical Index
Character Components
HSK Dictionary
Character Compare

DICTIONARY

Chinese Dictionary
Pinyin Index
Radical Index
Character Components
HSK Dictionary
Character Compare

TOOLS

Worksheet Generator
Worksheet Library
Pinyin Converter
Chinese Name Generator
Zodiac Calculator
HSK Level Checker
Flashcards
Dictation Practice

TOOLS

Worksheet Generator
Worksheet Library
Pinyin Converter
Chinese Name Generator
Zodiac Calculator
HSK Level Checker
Flashcards
Dictation Practice

LEARN

Learning Center
Blog
Chinese Stroke Rules
Chinese Idioms
Chinese Poetry
Pro Membership ✨

LEARN

Learning Center
Blog
Chinese Stroke Rules
Chinese Idioms
Chinese Poetry
Pro Membership ✨

© 2026 Hanzi Stroke. All rights reserved.

Made with♥for Chinese learners.

字 (zì): Stroke Order, Meaning & How to Write | HSK 1

By CharacterBrowse all characters A-Z

HSK ListsAll HSK versions overview

HSK 2.0

Learn & Practice

Worksheet GeneratorCreate practice sheets for free

Learning Essentials

Home
Dictionary
字

字 (zì): (Chinese) character — Stroke Order & Writing Guide

HSK 2.0Level 1

HSK 3.0

By PinyinSearch by pronunciation

By RadicalFind by radical component

By ComponentsLearn meaning and sound clues

HSK 3.0

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7-9

Worksheet LibraryHSK, Top 100 & themed PDFs

Dictation PracticeListen and write HSK characters

Flashcard ReviewSRS review for HSK and custom decks

HSK Level CheckerCheck HSK level of any text

Pinyin ConverterConvert Chinese to Pinyin

My Learning

Learning DashboardTrack your writing progress

My VocabularyReview saved words and lists

Fun & Culture

Name GeneratorCreate your Chinese name

8 Basic Strokes GuideHot

Foundation of all characters

Pinyin Tones Guide

4 tones with audio examples

Chinese Handwriting Guide

Daily practice routine

HSK 3.0 Complete GuideNew

New exam format explained

HSK 1 Common Mistakes

Avoid beginner errors

Topics & Culture

Chinese Numbers 1-1000

Count like a native

Time & Dates Guide

Tell time in Chinese

Family Members Guide

30+ family terms

2026 Fire Horse YearHot

Zodiac meaning & luck

Top 100 Characters

Most frequent, free PDF

View All Blog Posts

HSK 3.0:Recognition 1Writing 1-2

HSK 2.0Level 1

HSK 3.0Vocab 1 Recognition 1 Writing 1-2

1.

Animated Stroke Order 字

Watch the stroke order, then trace it yourself.

How to write 字 — animated stroke order

998 learners practiced this

2.

Stroke Order Diagrams 字

字 stroke order diagram

3.

Character Breakdown

Top-Bottom

字

字=

Advertisements

4.

Free Printable Handwriting Practice with Stroke Order: 字

Download and print worksheets to practice writing 字

字 handwriting practice sheet - portrait

FREE

字 handwriting practice sheet - portrait orientation

Download Portrait PDF

字 handwriting practice sheet - landscape orientation

Download Landscape PDF

5.

How to Use 字

Common patterns, words, and short phrases that show how 字 works in context.

Characters, writing, and fonts

This group focuses on 字 as the written Chinese character, its shape, and its use in writing.

汉字 • Hàn zì • Chinese character • HSK 3.0 · L1

HSK 3.0 · L1

6.

HSK Vocabulary: 字

HSK words that contain this character.

名字 • míng zi • given name

HSK 1

míng名

zi

7.

Example Sentences

Real-world example sentences demonstrating how 字 is used in context

wǒ我

jīng经

cháng常

shǐ使

yòng用

zì字

Information

Pinyinzì

Meaning(Chinese) character

Strokes6

Radical子

Traditional字

StructureTop-Bottom

Frequency#105

Zhuyinㄗˋ

UnicodeU+5B57

CangjieJND

Advertisements

Zodiac CalculatorFind your zodiac animal

宀roof

A child (子) under a roof (宀) — to nurture and educate, later meaning a written character.

Hàn汉

zì字

Chinese character

字典 • zì diǎn • dictionary • HSK 3.0 · L3

HSK 3.0 · L3

zì字

diǎn典

dictionary

字体 • zì tǐ • Font • HSK 3.0 · L7-9

HSK 3.0 · L7-9

zì字

tǐ体

Font

字迹 • zì jì • Handwriting • HSK 3.0 · L7-9

HSK 3.0 · L7-9

zì字

jì迹

Handwriting

Character as a unit

Here 字 combines with nouns to mean a written unit like a letter, subtitle, or digit.

字母 • zì mǔ • letters [of an alphabet] • HSK 5

HSK 5

zì字

mǔ母

letters [of an alphabet]

字幕 • zì mù • captions; subtitles • HSK 5

HSK 5

zì字

mù幕

captions; subtitles

数字 • shù zì • digital • HSK 4

HSK 4

shù数

zì字

digital

字

given name

文字 • wén zì • writing

HSK 5

wén文

zì字

writing

十字路口 • shí zì lù kǒu • crossroads

HSK 3.0 · L4

shí十

zì字

lù路

kǒu口

crossroads

签字 • qiān zì • to sign (one's name)

HSK 3.0 · L5

qiān签

zì字

to sign (one's name)

赤字 • chì zì • deficit

HSK 6

chì赤

zì字

deficit

数字化 • shù zì huà • to digitize; digitization; digital

HSK 3.0 · L6

shù数

zì字

huà化

to digitize; digitization; digital

diǎn典

chá查

shēng生

cí词

。

I often use a dictionary to look up new words.

wǒ我

rèn认

shi识

hěn很

duō多

Hàn汉

zì字

。

I know many Chinese characters.

hàn汉

zì字

shì是

zhōng中

wén文

de的

shū书

xiě写

xì系

tǒng统

。

Chinese characters are the writing system of Chinese.

yīng yǔ yǒu 2 6 gè zì mǔ 。

英语有26个字母。

English has 26 letters.

zhè这

ge个

zì字

zěn怎

me么

xiě写

？

How do you write this character?

Related Characters

Explore characters by relationship

HSK Level 1

Characters from the same exam level.

shì是 shū书 shuǐ水 shuō说 sì四 suì岁

View all HSK 1 characters →

Same Sound

Characters pronounced "zi".

zī孜 zǐ滓 zī淄 zì渍 zǐ姊 zī咨

View all "zi" characters →

Same Radical

Characters with radical "子".

zī孜 shú孰 rú孺 luán孪 niè孽 xiào孝

View all "子" radical characters →