Stroke (CJK character) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

CJK strokes, also called CJK(V) strokes or CJKV strokes are the calligraphic strokes needed to write the Chinese characters used in East Asia

East Asia

East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

. CJK strokes are the classified set of line patterns that may be arranged and combined to form Chinese Hanzi characters currently in use in China, Japan, Korea, and to a lesser extent in Vietnam.

Purpose

The study and classification of CJK strokes aid in:

understanding East Asian calligraphy - the correct method of writing, shape formation and stroke order;
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:

(Shù) is classified as a basic stroke because it is a single stroke that forms a line moving in one direction.

(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 from the writing surface.

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 character

Chinese character

Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...

s, 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 Héng "Horizontal" and Diǎn "Dot" can be written alone. "Combining strokes" (such as Zhé "Break" and Gōu "Hook") 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**
Name (pinyin Pinyin Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into... , trad./simp.)	CJK stroke	Translation of Chinese name	Additional description
Simple strokes
Diǎn, 點/点		"Dot"	Tiny dash, speck
Héng, 横		"Horizontal"	Rightward stroke
Shù, 豎/竖		"Vertical"	Downward stroke
Tí, 提		"Rise"	Flick up and rightwards
Nà, 捺		"Press down"	Falling rightwards (fattening at the bottom)
Piě, 撇		"Throw away"	Falling leftwards (with slight curve)
Combining strokes
Zhé, 折	n/a	"Break"	Indicates change in stroke direction, usually 90° turn, going down or going right only.
Gōu, 鉤/钩		"Hook"	Appended to other strokes, suddenly going down or going left only.
Wān, 彎/弯		"Bend"	A tapering thinning curve, usually concave left (convex outward right).
Xié, 斜		"Slant"	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

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

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

: 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
In most cases, concatenating basic strokes together form a compound stroke. For example, Shù combined with Gōu produce

(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 90⁰ (and only of 90⁰). 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 90⁰ turns down or to the right are indicated by a 折 (pinyin

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).

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 scheme
Classification scheme
In metadata a classification scheme is a hierarchical arrangement of kinds of things or groups of kinds of things. Typically it is accompanied by descriptive information of the classes or groups. A classification scheme is intended to be used for an arrangement or division of individual objects...

s that describe strokes by a naming convention or by conformity to a taxonomy; and
Categorization schemes
Categorization
Categorization is the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Categorization implies that objects are grouped into categories, usually for some specific purpose. Ideally, a category illuminates a relationship between the subjects and objects of knowledge...

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

Nominal number

Nominal numbers are numerals used for identification only. The numerical value is irrelevant, and they do not indicate quantity, rank, or any other measurement.-Definition:...

according to a designed numbering scheme

Numbering scheme

There are many different numbering schemes for assigning nominal numbers to entities. These generally require an agreed set of rules, or a central coordinator. The schemes can be considered to be examples of a primary key of a database management system table, whose table definitions require a...

.

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

A naming convention is a classification scheme where a controlled vocabulary

Controlled vocabulary

Controlled vocabularies provide a way to organize knowledge for subsequent retrieval. They are used in subject indexing schemes, subject headings, thesauri, taxonomies and other form of knowledge organization systems...

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**
Letter	B	D	G	H	N	P	Q	S	T	W	X	Z
Stroke direction
Trad./simp.

}}}
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!Pinyin

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 a 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**
Stroke	Name	Simple ideogram zhǐ shì (指事)	Section header Section headers of a Chinese dictionary Section headers , also known as index keys or classifiers, are graphic portions of Chinese characters which are used for organizing entries in Chinese dictionaries into sections which all share the same graphic part... bùshǒu (部首)	Dictionary Chinese dictionary Chinese dictionaries date back over two millennia to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, which is a significantly longer lexicographical history than any other language. There are hundreds of dictionaries for Chinese, and this article will introduce some of the most important... meaning	Example characters
	H	yī, "horizon"; simplified form of 弌 yī, "outstretched finger"	Radical 1 一 Radical 1 Radical 1 meaning "one" is 1 of 6 Kangxi radicals composed of 1 stroke.In the Kangxi Dictionary there are 42 characters to be found under this radical.... yī, "one"

}}} yī, "cardinal number one", "alone"; 破折号 pòzhéhào, "Chinese punctuation dash"
|二三丁丞丈世不上十卅七
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|HG
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|Variant form of 乙 yǐ
| wān, ya, zhé (折) turning stroke/to break
|疋了予矛子字疏写冖
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|HZ
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|口囗田品吕申甲圆巪
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|HZG
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|Variant form of 乙 yǐ
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|羽习包勻葡用青甫勺月也乜
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|HZT
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|讠计鳩
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|HZZ
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|凹卍
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|HZZZ
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|凸
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|HZZZG
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|乃孕仍
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|HZZP
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|建及
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|HP
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|又双叒今
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|HPW
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|HPWG
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|阝

阝

阝 is a character used in Kangxi writing which serves as the combining form of two distinct radicals, distinguished by whether it is on the left or right of a character. It is the combining form of Radical 170, 阜, when used on the left of a character, as in 阪, and of Radical 163, 邑, when used on the...

队邮
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|HZW
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|殳投朵
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|HZWG
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|飞风瘋九几气虱
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|HXWG
(HZWG)
|yǐ suggesting efforts of a sprouting seed; yàn representing a bird's call
|Radical 5 乙

Radical 5

Radical 5 meaning "second" is one of six of the 214 Kangxi radicals that are composed of only one stroke. In the ancient Chinese cyclic character numeral system tiāngān, 乙 represents the second Celestial stem....

Radical 2

Radical 2 meaning "vertical stroke" is one of six of the 214 Kangxi radicals that are composed of only one stroke.In the Kangxi Dictionary there are only 21 characters to be found under this radical.- Characters with Radical 2:...

Radical 6

Radical 6 meaning "hook" is one of six of the 214 Kangxi radicals that are composed of only one stroke.In the Kangxi Dictionary there are 19 characters to be found under this radical.- Characters with Radical 6:- Literature :...

jué, "hook"
| jué, "a vertical line with a hook", usually read as 竖勾 shùgōu
|爭事求水
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|ST
|juē pictograph of a hook
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|食良艮很狠鄉民
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|SZ
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|断继山互彙牙乐东
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|SZZ
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|亞鼎卐吳专
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|SZZG
(SZWG)
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|亏强马丂号
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|SZZWG
(SZZG)
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|弓丐
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|SW
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|區亡妄四
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|SWG
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|Variant form of 乙 yǐ
| yǐn, "hidden", "mysterious", "small", usually read as / yǐn
|乱己已巳
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|SP
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|乃月用齊几人班大
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|SZP
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|专
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|W
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|豕
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|WG
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|狐嶽貓家逐, 乙
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|P
|piě, a falling line suggesting motion; yì suggestion dragging motion
|Radical 4 丿

Radical 4

Radical 4 meaning "slash" is one of six of the 214 Kangxi radicals that are composed of only one stroke.In the Kangxi Dictionary there are 33 characters to be found under this radical...

piě, "slash"
| piě, "line"
|乂爻禾毛乏乖釆衣八行
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|PG
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|乄
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|PZ
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|弘公翁
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|PD
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|See also: Radical 47 巛

Radical 47

Radical 47 meaning "river" is 1 of 31 Kangxi radicals composed of three strokes.In the Kangxi Dictionary there are 26 characters to be found under this radical.- Characters with Radical 47:-External links:*...

|See also: guì, "river" (archaic)
|女巛巡獵災甾
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|PN
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|是走廴
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|N
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|大人天入走边廷尺
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|XG
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|戈弋戰我
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|T
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|Usually read as 趯 tì, "jump"
|冰淋治冶冽暴氾录地虫
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|TPN
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|辶之辷
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|TN
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|Variant form of 丿 piě
| fú, "stretch"
|尐八入廻
|-
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|D
|zhǔ pictorgraph of flame (主 = lamp and flame)
|Radical 3 丶

Radical 3

Radical 3 meaning "dot" is one of six of the 214 Kangxi radicals that are composed of only one stroke.In the Kangxi Dictionary there are 10 characters to be found under this radical.-Characters with Radical 3:- References :...

zhǔ, "dot"
| zhǔ, "dot", usually read as 點/点 diǎn
|丸义永冰凡丹主求火刃
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|DN
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|入
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|Q
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| líng, "zero"; full stop

Full stop

A full stop is the punctuation mark commonly placed at the end of sentences. In American English, the term used for this punctuation is period. In the 21st century, it is often also called a dot by young people...

(。) 句號/句号 jùhào, "Chinese punctuation full stop (period)"
|〇
|}

Numbering scheme

A numbering scheme is a categorization method where like-item strokes are grouped into categories labeled by nominal numbers. Category numbering may be an index of numbers of types, with sub-types indicated by decimal point followed by another number or a letter.

The following table is a common numbering scheme that uses similar names as the roman letter naming convention, but the stroke forms are grouped into major category types (1 to 5), which further break down into 25 sub-types in category 5.

Example of a CJK stroke numbering scheme

No.	Stroke	Name (simplified Chinese and pinyin Pinyin Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into... )
Horizontal (一)
1		横 Héng
1		提 Tì
Vertical (丨)
2		竖 Shù
2		竖钩 Shù Gōu
Slash (丿)
3		撇 Piě
3		撇钩 Piě Gōu
Dot (丶)
4		点 Diǎn
		捺 Nà
		提捺 Tì Nà

No.	Stroke	Name (simplified Chinese and pinyin Pinyin Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into... )
Turning stroke (折 Zhé = right angle Right angle In geometry and trigonometry, a right angle is an angle that bisects the angle formed by two halves of a straight line. More precisely, if a ray is placed so that its endpoint is on a line and the adjacent angles are equal, then they are right angles... turn) or (弯 Wān = curve turn)
5.1		横折 Héng Zhé
5.2		横撇 Héng Piě
5.3		横钩 Héng Gōu
5.4		竖折 Shù Zhé
5.5		竖弯 Shù Wān
5.6		竖提 Shù Tì
5.7		撇横 Piě Zhé
5.8		撇点 Piě Diǎn
5.9		撇钩 Piě Gōu
5.10		弯钩 Wān Gōu
5.11		斜钩 Xié Gōu
5.12		横折折 Héng Zhé Zhé
5.13		横折弯 Héng Zhé Wān
5.14		横折提 Héng Zhé Tì
5.15		横折钩 Héng Zhé Gōu
5.16		横斜钩 Héng Xié Gōu
5.17		竖折折 Shù Zhé Zhé
5.18		竖折撇 Shù Zhé Piě
5.19		竖弯钩 Shù Wān Gōu
5.20		横折折折 Héng Zhé Zhé Zhé
5.21		横折折撇 Héng Zhé Zhé Piě
5.22		横折弯钩 Héng Zhé Wān Gōu
5.23		横撇弯钩 Héng Piě Wān Gōu
5.24		竖折折钩 Shù Zhé Zhé Gōu
5.25		横折折折钩 Héng Zhé Zhé Zhé Gōu

Stroke order

Stroke order refers to the order in which the strokes of a Chinese character are written. A stroke is a movement of a writing instrument on a writing surface. Because most Chinese characters have many strokes, certain stroke orders guidelines are recommended to ensure speed, accuracy, and legibility in composition. To write CJK characters, one must know how to write CJK strokes, and thus, needs to identify the basic strokes that make up a character.

Eight Principles of Yong

The Eight Principles of Yong explain how to write eight common strokes in regular script

Regular script

Regular script , also called 正楷 , 真書 , 楷体 and 正書 , is the newest of the Chinese script styles Regular script , also called 正楷 , 真書 (zhēnshū), 楷体 (kǎitǐ) and 正書 (zhèngshū), is the newest of the Chinese script styles Regular script , also called 正楷 , 真書 (zhēnshū), 楷体 (kǎitǐ) and 正書 (zhèngshū), is...

which are found all in the one character, . It was traditionally believed that the frequent practice of these principles as a beginning calligrapher

Calligraphy

Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...

could ensure beauty

Beauty

Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction. Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture...

in one's writing.

Eight basic strokes

－ the Diǎn 點/点, is a dot, filled from the top, to the bottom, traditionally made by "couching" the brush on the page.

－ the Héng 横, is horizontal, filled from left to right, the same way the Latin letters A, B,C,D are written.

－ the Shù 豎/竖, is vertical-falling. The brush begins by a dot on top, then falls downward.

－ the Gōu 鉤/钩, ending another stroke, is a sharp change of direction either down (after a Heng) or left (after a Shù).

－ the Tí 提, is a flick up and rightwards

－ the Wān 彎/弯, follows a concave path on the left or on the right

－ the Piě 撇, is a falling leftwards (with a slight curve)

－ the Nà 捺, is falling rightwards (with an emphasis at the end of the stroke).

(

)

Use in computing

The stroke count method

Stroke count method

The Stroke Count Method is an input method editor used for entering Chinese characters on mobile phones and other electronic devices which is based on the order of the strokes of hand-written characters...

is based on the order of strokes to input characters on Chinese mobile phones.

As part of Chinese character encoding

Chinese character encoding

In computing, Chinese character encodings can be used to represent text written in the CJK languages — Chinese, Japanese, Korean — and obsolete Vietnamese, all of which use Chinese characters...

, there have been several proposals to encode the CJK strokes, most of time with a total around 35~40 entries. Most notable is the curretnt Unicode

Unicode

Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...

block “CJK Strokes” (U+31C0..U+31EF), with 36 types of strokes: