Stroke (CJK character)

永, a Chinese character with a high variety of different strokes and which is often used to show some of the strokes. It means "forever" or "permanence".

CJK strokes are the calligraphic strokes needed to write the Chinese characters in regular script used in East Asian calligraphy. CJK strokes are the classified set of line patterns that may be arranged and combined to form Chinese characters (also known as Hanzi) in use in China, Japan, and Korea.

Purpose[]

The study and classification of CJK strokes is used for:

understanding Chinese character calligraphy – the correct method of writing, shape formation and stroke order required for character legibility;
understanding stroke changes according to the style that is in use;
defining stroke naming and counting conventions;
identifying fundamental components of Han radicals; and
their use in computing.

Formation[]

When writing Han radicals, a single stroke includes all the motions necessary to produce a given part of a character before lifting the writing instrument from the writing surface; thus, a single stroke may have abrupt changes in direction within the line. For example:

(Vertical / shù) is classified as a basic stroke because it is a single stroke that forms a line moving in one direction.
(Vertical – Horizontal – Vertical / shù zhé zhé) is classified as a compound stroke because it is a single stroke that forms a line that includes one or more abrupt changes in direction. This example is a sequence of three basic strokes written without lifting the writing instrument such as the ink brush from the writing surface.

Direction[]

All strokes have direction. They are unidirectional and start from one entry point. As such, they are usually not written in the reverse direction by native users. Here are some examples:

Types[]

CJK strokes are an attempt to identify and classify all single-stroke components that can be used to write Han radicals. There are some thirty distinct types of strokes recognized in Chinese characters, some of which are compound strokes made from basic strokes. The compound strokes comprise more than one movement of the writing instrument, and many of these have no agreed-upon name.

Basic strokes[]

A basic stroke is a single calligraphic mark moving in one direction across a writing surface. The following table lists a selection of basic strokes divided into two stroke groups: simple and combining. "Simple strokes" (such as Horizontal / Héng and Dot / Diǎn) can be written alone. "Combining strokes" (such as Zig / Zhé and J hook / Gōu) never occur alone, but must be paired with at least one other stroke forming a compound stroke. Thus, they are not in themselves individual strokes.

**Table of basic strokes**
English Name	Name in PRC (pinyin and simp.)	Name in ROC (pinyin and trad.)	Name in Japan	Meaning of Chinese name (Japanese name, if different)	Additional description
Simple strokes
Dot	Diǎn, 点	Diǎn, 點	Ten, 点	"Dot"	Tiny dash, speck.
Horizontal	Héng, 横	Héng, 橫	Yoko, 横	"Horizontal"	Rightward stroke.
Vertical	Shù, 竖	Shù, 豎	Tate, 豎	"Vertical"	Downward stroke.
Upward horizontal	Tí, 提	Tiāo, 挑	Hane, 跳	"Rise" ("Jump")	Flick up and rightwards.
Press	Nà, 捺	Nà, 捺	(Migi) Harai, (右)払	"Press down" ("(Right) Sweep")	Falling rightwards (fattening at the bottom).
Throw	Piě, 撇	Piě, 撇	(Hidari) Harai, (左)払	"Throw away" ("(Left) Sweep")	Falling leftwards (with slight curve).
Combining strokes
Zag	Zhé, 折	Zhé, 折	Ore, 折	"Break"	Indicates change in stroke direction, usually 90° turn, going down or going right only.
J hook	Gōu, 钩	Gōu, 鈎(鉤)	Kagi, 鉤	"Hook"	Appended to other strokes, suddenly sharp turning before crash stopping.
Clockwise curve	Wān, 弯	Wān, 彎	(Hidari) Sori, (左)反	"Bend" ("(Left) Curve")	Tapering curved line, usually concave left (convex outward right).
Anticlockwise curve	Xié, 斜	Qū, 曲	(Migi) Sori, (右)反	"Slant" ("(Right) Curve")	Curved line, usually concave right (convex outward left).

Note, the basic stroke Diǎn "Dot" is rarely a real dot. Instead it usually takes the shape of a very small line pointing in one of several directions, and may be long enough to be confused with other strokes.

Compound strokes[]

Another classification showing 37 strokes: 8 basic strokes, and 29 complex strokes.^[1]

A compound stroke (also called a complex stroke) is produced when two or more basic strokes are combined in a single stroke written without lifting the writing instrument from the writing surface. The character 永 (pinyin: yǒng) "eternity" described in more detail below demonstrates one of these compound strokes. The centre line is a compound stroke that combines three stroke shapes in a single stroke.

Basics for making compound strokes^[2]

In most cases, concatenating basic strokes together form a compound stroke. For example, Vertical / Shù combined with J hook / Gōu produce (Vertical – J hook / Shù Gōu). A stroke naming convention sums the names of the basic strokes, in the writing order.

An exception to this applies when a stroke makes a turn of 90° (and only of 90°) in the Simplified Chinese names. Horizontal (Héng) and Vertical (Shù) strokes are identified only once when they appear as the first stroke of a compound; any single stroke with successive 90° turns down or to the right are indicated by a Zag 折 (pinyin: Zhé) "Break". For example, an initial Shù followed by an abrupt turn right produces (Shù Zhé). In the same way, an initial Shù followed by an abrupt turn right followed by a second turn down produces (Shù Zhé Zhé). However, their inherited names are "Vertical – Horizontal" and "Vertical – Horizontal – Vertical". We need not to use "Zag" in the inherited names.

Nearly all complex strokes can be named using this simple scheme.

Nomenclature[]

Organization systems used to describe and differentiate strokes may include the use of roman letters, Chinese characters, numbers, or a combination of these devices. Two methods of organizing CJK strokes are by:

Classification schemes that describe strokes by a naming convention or by conformity to a taxonomy; and
Categorization schemes that differentiate strokes by numeric or topical grouping.

In classification schemes, stroke forms are described, assigned a representative character or letterform, and may be arranged in a hierarchy. In categorization schemes, stroke forms are differentiated, sorted and grouped into like categories; categories may be topical, or assigned by a numeric or alpha-numeric nominal number according to a designed numbering scheme.

Benefits

Organizing strokes into a hierarchy aids a user's understanding by bringing order to an obtuse system of writing that has organically evolved over the period of centuries. In addition, the process of recognizing and describing stroke patterns promotes consistency of stroke formation and usage. When organized by naming convention, classification allows a user to find a stroke quickly in a large stroke collection, makes it easier to detect duplication, and conveys meaning when comparing relationships between strokes. When organized by numbering scheme, categorization aids a user in understanding stroke differences, and makes it easier to make predictions, inferences and decisions about a stroke.

Limitations

Strokes are described and differentiated using the criteria of visual qualities of a stroke. Because this can require subjective interpretation, CJK strokes cannot be placed into a single definitive classification scheme because stroke types lack a universal consensus on the description and number of basic and compound forms. CJK strokes cannot be placed into a single definitive categorization scheme due to visual ambiguity between strokes, and therefore cannot be segregated into mutually-exclusive groups. Other factors inhibiting organization based on visual criteria is the variation of writing styles, and the changes of appearance that a stroke undergoes within various characters.

Roman letter naming convention of Unicode standard[]

A naming convention is a classification scheme where a controlled vocabulary is used systematically to describe the characteristics of an item. The naming convention for a CJK stroke is derived from the path mark left by the writing instrument. In this instance roman letters are concatenated to form a stroke name is a sequence of one or more roman letters indicating the component strokes used to create the CJK stroke. The first letter of the Han radical’s pinyin pronunciation represents each basic stroke. In a basic stroke example, H represents the stroke named 横 (pinyin: Héng); in a compound example, HZT represents 横折提 (pinyin: Héng Zhé Tí).

While no consensus exists, there are up to 12 distinct basic strokes that are identified by a unique Han radical.

**Letters commonly used in CJK stroke naming conventions (12 items)**^[3]
Letter	B	D	G	H	N	P	Q	S	T	W	X	Z
Stroke direction
Simp./Trad.	扁	点/點	钩/鈎(鉤)	横/橫	捺	撇	圈	竖/豎	提	弯/彎	斜	折
Pinyin	Biǎn	Diǎn	Gōu	Héng	Nà	Piě	Quān	Shù	Tí	Wān	Xié	Zhé
Meaning	"Flat"	"Dot"	"Hook"	"Horizontal"	"Press down"	"Throw away"	"Circle"	"Vertical"	"Rise"	"Bend"	"Slant"	"Break"

There are many CJK compound strokes, however there is no consensus for sequence letter naming of compound strokes using the basic strokes. The following table demonstrates the CJK stroke naming convention:

**Selected named CJK basic and compound strokes (41 items)**
Name in PRC	Abbr^[3]^[4]	Full Name	Dictionary meaning and Note	Example characters	Encoding
横	H	Héng	一 yī, "cardinal number one", "alone" (Radical 1 一).	二三丁丞丈世不上十卅七	U+31D0 (㇐)
提	T	Tí		冰淋病孑治冶冽暴氾录地虫	U+31C0 (㇀)
横钩	HG	Héng Gōu	乛 wān, ya, zhé (折) turning stroke / to break (Radical: Variant form of 乙 yǐ).	疋了危予矛子字令疏写冖	U+31D6 (㇖)
横撇	HP	Héng Piě		又水夕径炙双叒今	U+31C7 (㇇)
横折	HZ	Héng Zhé		口囗己田品吕申甲圆巪	U+31D5 (㇕)
横折钩	HZG	Héng Zhé Gōu	(Radical: Variant form of 乙 yǐ).	羽习包勻葡用青甫勺月也乜	U+31C6 (㇆)
横折提	HZT	Héng Zhé Tí		讠计鳩	U+31CA (㇊)
横折折	HZZ	Héng Zhé Zhé		凹	U+31C5 (㇅)
横折弯	HZW	Héng Zhé Wān		殳投朵	U+31CD (㇍)
横折弯钩^[3] (横斜钩^[4])	HZWG^[3] (HXG^[4])	Héng Zhé Wān Gōu^[3] (Héng Xié Gōu^[4])	Unofficial name "HWG" is used by Hugo Lopez.^[1]	飞风瘋凬虱迅气九几	U+31C8 (㇈)
横斜弯钩^[3] (横折弯钩^[4])	HXWG^[3] (HZWG^[4])	Héng Xié Wān Gōu^[3] (Héng Zhé Wān Gōu^[4])	乙 yǐ, niè, "the second of the ten heavenly stems", "second"; zhé (折) turning stroke / to break (Radical 5 乙).	氹乞乤艺	U+31E0 (㇠)
横折折折	HZZZ	Héng Zhé Zhé Zhé		凸	U+31CE (㇎)
横折折撇	HZZP	Héng Zhé Zhé Piě		建及	U+31CB (㇋)
横撇弯钩	HPWG	Héng Piě Wān Gōu		阝队邮	U+31CC (㇌)
横折折折钩	HZZZG	Héng Zhé Zhé Zhé Gōu	WIKI

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