The basics about writing Chinese characters

The last skill to master in 听说读写 is writing. Logically, it only makes sense to a child to want to practise writing a certain word if he knows how to read the word and understands its meaning, isn't it? Otherwise it’s just another art piece to him. Writing will in turn enhance a child’s reading ability because the action helps him to internalise the learning of the word.

There are some guidelines to follow when it comes to writing Chinese characters. They are the 笔画 and 笔顺.

The strokes (笔画) help to distinguish a Chinese word from a drawing. For example, 口is a Chinese character written with 3 strokes. If written without the strokes, it becomes a square.

笔顺 provides guidelines that enable the written strokes to flow from one to the next smoothly, thus increase the efficiency or speed of writing. It also helps the writer to place the “parts” nicely together. For example, 土is written 横、竖、横. It flows better when written in the right order, as if the word can be written in one single stroke.

Types of 笔画:

Guidelines on 笔顺:

S/n	Guidelines	Example
1	先横后竖	十
2	先撇后捺	人
3	从上到下	三
4	从左到右	树
5	从外到内	风
6	先里头后封口	院
7	先中间后两边	水
8	先撇后折	九
9	先上后内再包围	匡
10	先主体后写点	义

Words that are often written with wrong 笔顺:

“非”：
According to the guidelines, when a word has 横and 竖, one should write 横 first followed by 竖 (ie. 先横后竖), like “丰”and “井”.  But for “非”, it has long vertical strokes and short horizontal strokes, one should write 竖 first followed by 横 (ie. 先竖后横). So “非”should be written 竖、横、横、横，竖、横、横、横.

“火”、“ 忄”：
According to the guidelines, words such as “小”,“水”and “办”are written middle first followed by left and right structure (先中间后两边). But for “火”and “忄”(竖心旁), one should write the left and right structures first followed by the middle structure (先两边后中间).

“九”、“刀”、“方”：
According to the guidelines, words that have 撇and折 structures, should be written 撇 first followed by 折 (先撇后折). Like “九”, it’s written 撇、横折弯钩. But for “刀”and “方”, they are written 折 first followed by 撇 (先折后撇). So “方”should be written 点、横、横折钩、撇.

“区”：
Words like “区”,“匹”,“巨”and “医”has an open side on the right (unlike 口which is completely closed). The correct way of writing these words should be 横 first followed by whatever that is inside, and finished it off with 竖折 (先上后内再包围).

“义”：
Normally, when a word has a dot (点) as part of its structure, such as “太”,“夕”and “瓦”, the main part should be written first and end off with the dot (先主体后写点).  There’s always exception to every norm. For “义”and “斗”, the dot is written first followed by the rest of the structure.