Basic Chinese Strokes (汉字基本笔画)
Every Chinese character is built from a small set of stroke types. There are 12 in total here; the 8 “essential” ones are the traditional 永字八法 set taught first, and the remaining types are compounds of those basics (a 横折 is a 横 followed by a 竖).
横
Héngbasic
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Horizontal Stroke
Direction: Left to right, with a slight upward tilt (~5°)
Examples:
提
Tíbasic
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Rising Stroke (Flick)
Direction: Bottom-left to top-right, swift upward flick
Examples:
地江海打找冷
横折钩
Héng Zhé Gōucompound
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Horizontal Fold Hook
Direction: Horizontal, corner down, hook inward
Examples:
竖弯钩
Shù Wān Gōucompound
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Vertical Curved Hook
Direction: Down, round turn right, hook up
Examples:
儿七也包先
撇折
Piě Zhécompound
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Left-falling Fold
Direction: Slant down-left, corner, flick up-right
Examples:
去云台公弘
Classical Calligraphy Canon
The Eight Principles of Yong (永字八法)
In Chinese calligraphy, the single character 永 (yǒng, meaning "forever" or "eternity") famously contains all eight fundamental stroke archetypes. Mastering 永 gives you the key to writing thousands of Chinese characters.
永yǒng · 8 Strokes