Hanzi Stroke Count Lookup (汉字笔画查询)

HANZI REFERENCE

简繁 EN

By RECATOOLS Editorial

About this tool

Per-character stroke count + stroke-order SVG

Chinese character stroke count lookup. Enter any character → exact count + per-stroke visualisation.

RT-CHN-025 · Chinese Language & Script

Enter character

How to use

Enter a character

Single-char lookup (multi-char input uses first only).

View stroke count

Large display for quick reading.

View stroke breakdown

Each stroke shown separately — red = current, grey = previous. Great for calligraphy teaching.

Rare character handling

If a character is not in the database, the tool clearly says so. ~9000+ common chars supported.

Chinese Stroke Count: The Atomic Unit of Hanzi Writing

A Chinese stroke (笔画) is the smallest indivisible unit of Hanzi writing — each pen-down to pen-up = one stroke. Stroke count is a core character attribute affecting literacy, dictionary indexing, name studies, and calligraphy. Tool uses open-source hanzi-writer-data (9500+ common chars) for exact counts + visualisation.

Stroke types

Traditional 5 categories: horizontal (橫), vertical (豎), left-falling (撇), right-falling (捺), dot (點). Modern dictionaries expand to 30+ detailed types (horizontal-turn, slanted-turn, etc.). Tool shows each stroke\'s exact shape.

Uses

(1) Literacy teaching: children learn Hanzi via stroke order. (2) Name studies: 三才五格 + bazi systems use stroke counts. (3) Calligraphy: correct stroke order is the foundation of aesthetic mastery. (4) Dictionary lookup: Kangxi Dictionary indexes by stroke count.

10 Facts about Hanzi Strokes

Fewest strokes: 一 / 乙 / 乂 (all 1 stroke). Most: 龘 (48 strokes), 靐 (39).

Modern Chinese Dictionary has 20,000+ entries; average stroke count ~11.

Kangxi Dictionary indexes by 214 radicals × stroke count — the classical lookup method.

Stroke-order rules: 8 main principles (top-to-bottom, left-to-right, horizontal-before-vertical, falling-before-pressing…). Foundational for learning Hanzi.

Correct stroke order is foundational to calligraphic aesthetics — even passable-looking characters with wrong order are instantly spotted by experts.

Name-divination "三才五格" system computes 5 numbers from stroke counts (heaven/person/earth/outer/total) — influences character choice in naming.

Stroke concepts extend to digital font design — Hanzi font designers must master all 30+ stroke types.

Tool's data comes from hanzi-writer-data, the open-source font library based on Taiwan Arphic Technology fonts (APL license).

Stroke concepts have cross-cultural influence: Japanese Kanji + Korean Hanja learning all use the same stroke principles.

Pairs with RT-CHN-026 (radical lookup) + RT-CHN-018 (name strokes) — forms the strokes toolset.

Frequently Asked Questions

Tool covers 9500+ common chars. Rare ones (e.g. obscure Kangxi entries) may be missing. Use specialised classical Chinese dictionaries for those.
Yes. E.g. 龙 (Simp, 5) vs 龍 (Trad, 16); 门 (Simp, 3) vs 門 (Trad, 8). Tool counts the specific form you input.
No.
Right-click each SVG → save. Each stroke is a standalone SVG.
99% match. Rare disagreements (e.g. 门 as 3 or 4 strokes) stem from different standards. Tool follows modern MOE conventions.
Tool covers stroke count only. For radicals see RT-CHN-026.
Yes — Japanese Kanji + Chinese Hanzi share the Unicode CJK set. Tool works for both.
Single-char lookup. For multi-char analysis see RT-CHN-018 (Name Stroke Analyzer).
Independent dimensions. Total is fixed; order follows the 8-rule standard. Tool shows both.
hanzi-writer-data, based on Taiwan Arphic ARPHIC fonts, Arphic Public License open-source.

Hanzi Stroke Count Lookup (汉字笔画查询)