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9 votes
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Can I always write the 艹 (grass radical) with three lines only?

Two notes: 艹 is 4 strokes in Taiwan and Hong Kong only. It is less helpful to think of it as a "traditional"/"simplified" difference, as among other standards which use "traditional characters" (e.g. ...
dROOOze's user avatar
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9 votes
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When handwriting 黄 (huáng; yellow) is it incorrect to have a disconnected 草 (cǎo; grass) radical on top?

Neither the PRC form「黄」nor the ROC/HK form「黃」contains「艸・艹」. The top of the PRC form「黄」is written as「龷」. 商甲甲806合集32509商甲京津636 西周金耳尊集成6007 「黃」originally depicted a person「大」with a swollen chest/...
dROOOze's user avatar
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5 votes

Different first stroke forms of 月 (yuè)

It's common for components to be drawn is multiple ways depending on their location in the characters. Compare 朋 阴 望 嬴 with 有 肓 育 肯 脊. Perhaps this distinction is more apparent when 衣 is used in ...
Becky 李蓓's user avatar
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5 votes
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the right strokes for 月(yue)

The right side of 「明」 is 「月」 (moon). The right side of 「胡」 is not 「月」 - it is 「肉」 (flesh, meat). 「湖」 (lake) is comprised of semantic 「水・氵」 (water) and phonetic 「胡」, so in 「湖」, the right side is ...
dROOOze's user avatar
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4 votes

Handwritten note in chinese (Characters identified: 阳台还有衣服)

It says 阳台还有衣服 Yángtái háiyǒu yīfu This directly translates to "balcony still has clothes". More specifically: 阳台 (yángtái) = balcony (or something similar, like a veranda) 还有 (háiyǒu) = ...
Becky 李蓓's user avatar
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4 votes

Why this header of "世界日报" is written as "世界曰报"?

It's correctly written, but in a different font called 隶书 Clerical script. It's one of the archaic style of writing. In general Chinese characters in 隶书 look wider, which makes 日 looks like 曰 in ...
jackieyang's user avatar
4 votes
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Is there a name for a "phantom" stroke handwritten by mistake?

It is called or 笔误 or 误笔 (handwriting mistake) or more colloquially "写错笔划" (write a wrong stroke) 写多笔划或是写少笔划都是笔误 俗语: "误将冯京作马凉" 就是典型的笔误引来的误会 Although 笔误 and 误笔 are interchangeable, ...
Tang Ho's user avatar
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4 votes

Can anyone identify this signature please?

Title: 母与子 (mother and son) Artist: 惠珺 /Huì jùn/
Tang Ho's user avatar
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3 votes
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How to write Chinese fluently?

Haha, it is difficult even for a native to decipher very cursive or bad handwriting. Basically, when we read, we are only certain about some of the characters and then deduce other characters based on ...
Toosky Hierot's user avatar
3 votes

When writing, do chinese people rotate the page to write more easily?

We were not taught that, but we write the individual character with an angle naturally. It is hard to write a line parallel to the paper and the table if the paper is also parallel to the table. Some ...
sfy's user avatar
  • 6,283
3 votes

When writing, do chinese people rotate the page to write more easily?

I wasn't taught this in schools in China! I think in elementary school, the suggested practice is to keep everything square and sit with straight back for the sake of good eyesight and posture. ...
Anna Zhian Zhou's user avatar
3 votes
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Are both these stroke orders for 里 and 再 correct in mainland China?

I usually look up this dictionary for stroke orders. There could be some other useful sites like this one. I personally apply the second order for 再 and 里 as you quoted. In practice, the stroke ...
dan's user avatar
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3 votes
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Is it incorrect to write 少 with a hooked first stroke, like 小?

Incorrect is a relative term. On the whole, I'm going to say no, it's not incorrect, and it's easier to learn the character if you write it with a hook, because the glyph origin of「少」was「小」compounded ...
dROOOze's user avatar
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3 votes
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Is it legitimate to write 男 merging the two vertical strokes?

The simple answer is 'wrong'. 男 is 田 + 力. It might be ok for daily writing, but it would be wrong for any type of exams.
dan's user avatar
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3 votes

Traditional alternative to 水寫布 (water-writing paper) for calligraphy practice?

Don't know if it counts, but in mainland China, some people write on the street with a huge writing brush, half as long as an adult is tall. And they only dip the brush in water to write. After the ...
Hao Xiaotong Anton's user avatar
3 votes
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Are my chinese characters readable?

Your characters are very readable, but I think you wrote the wrong first character. Looks like you meant to write 新 but you only wrote 亲 (the left side of 新). 亲 is like "beloved" or "dear", but 新 is "...
Stephen C's user avatar
  • 284
3 votes

App to learn stroke order and writing chinese characters

A free option is TOFU Learn which is what I've been using for years. It has the HSK decks already available, and it's simple enough to write your own (and import the pinyin and definitions from CC-...
Becky 李蓓's user avatar
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3 votes
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What about the orthography of 苹 (like in 苹果)? It seems consensus is missing

From a Unicode perspective it is the same character. Depending on the font and the environment you are using it may look different. Take for instance a look at the code charts of Unicode 12: As can ...
Kess Vargavind's user avatar
3 votes

How do Chinese people correct their characters?

for example this picture,hope to help you:
kevin00012's user avatar
3 votes

Correct writing of 酉

Stroke Sequence - Kangxi Radical #164 (composition 西一) https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%85%89 Radical 146 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF 𠁤 - Radical 31 囗+2 (composition 儿囗) https://en....
r13's user avatar
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3 votes

Correct writing of 酉

In reality there is no difference. Usually, after you write 𠃍, you naturally lift the pen to write the next stroke, and it will naturally form a 勾, making it ㇆. They are more like stylistic choices ...
Betty's user avatar
  • 3,873
2 votes

Handwriting Certain Radicals

They are just different writing styles which we can tolerate.Because the governments in Chinese using regions have established standards on which is the right way (正體字, lit. correct form character) ...
Daniel Cheung's user avatar
2 votes

How to learn to read Chinese calligraphic paintings (and Chinese handwriting)?

So sorry for bringing up such an old thread, but I want to put something here that might be useful for anyone searching this thread later on. I used Google Translate and with my limited knowledge of ...
jeftaj's user avatar
  • 121
2 votes
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Do characters like 司, 习, and 可 have different first strokes?

I'm not sure if it's simply wrong to write this, or if they're acceptable alternatives. It's simply wrong. 横折勾 does not equal to 横 + 竖折勾. Even in artistic or decorative writing, they are clearly ...
NS.X.'s user avatar
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2 votes

Do characters like 司, 习, and 可 have different first strokes?

We can use zdic's 笔顺 for this: 司 フ一丨フ一 习 フ丶一 可 一丨フ一丨 So technically 司 and 习 begin with a 折 stroke, while 可 begins with a 横 stroke. 笔顺 works like: 笔顺名称 一(横) 丨(竖) 丿(撇) 丶(点) ...
Mou某's user avatar
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2 votes

Reference for different looking ways of writing a character?

There are in fact a few websites out there, not to mention hundreds of book titles. You may want to try guoxuedashi.com, which has one overview page for each character (eg http://www.guoxuedashi.com/...
John Frazer's user avatar
2 votes

Is it legitimate to write 男 merging the two vertical strokes?

I think your question can only be answered if framed right, i.e. When I write a given character this or that way, will people be able to read it? will I get bad marks in an exam? will many people ...
John Frazer's user avatar
2 votes

Can I always write the 艹 (grass radical) with three lines only?

Writing two crosses is the "canonical" type, which adheres to the origin of the radical. When you're in Taiwan or Hong Kong, this is the best choice. Writing it together as a laid-down two-barred ...
Winfred Huang's user avatar
2 votes

Can I translate "still alive" as 还活着?

還活著 is correct in meaning But in most cases 仍(然)活著 is a better translation
William Chong's user avatar

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