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