HowToMakeSureYourChineseCharacters

AreBalanced
Asidefromrememberinghowtowritethem,writingbeautifulcharacterscan
beachallenge.Usingtheadjectivebeautifulmightseemstrange,butthereis
aparticularfinessethatcomeswithwritingChinesecharactersthat,when
writtencorrectly,canbebeautiful.

WhenIfirstbeganlearningtowriteChinesecharacters(yes,youveheardmy
storyahundredtimesatleast),theyweremostlyugly.Butwhenyouvewritten
acharacter40timesormoretohelprememberit,theresboundtobeonethat
youcanlookuponproudlyandsaythatsabeautifulcharacter.

Unlessyoureusingstrokeanimationstolearnhowtowrite,itcanoftenbe
difficulttoknowwhichstrokestouseandinwhichorder.Wevecoveredboth
oftheseareas,intwoarticlesChineseCharacterStrokeRules(AndHowTo
BreakThem!)and12AdvancedChineseStrokestoHelpYouWriteCharacters.
However,theresanotherareathatreallyneedstobelookedinto,andthats
characterbalance.

Youveprobablyheardmeharponaboutfieldnotebooksandifyoureusing
ourdictionary,youmayhavenoticedthatbehindthecharacters,isafaintcross.
Theselinesarebasicallyguidelines,toshowyouhowtokeepyourcharacters
balancedandthereforebeautiful.

BalanceisanextremelyimportantpartofChinesephilosophy,essentialto
TraditionalChinesemedicine,aswellasaestheticallyinthewrittenlanguage.

BelowaretherulesyouneedtofollowwhenwritingChinesetoensurethat
yourcharactersarebalanced.

ThecharactersweveincludedinthispostweretakenfromourWrittenChinese
Dictionary,aswellasaChinesehand-writingapp,.

CharacterStructure

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1.LeftRight

1.1LeftRightProportion

LeftRight
This1-2ratioisusedwhenthemainstrokeontherightsideislargerthanon
theleft.Someexamplesare,,and .

Examples:

(y)

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(d)

(yng)

LeftRight

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The2-1ratioisusedwhenthereisnomainstrokeontherightside,andthere
aremorestrokesontheleftsidethanontheright.

Examples:

(ln)

(ci)

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(chung)
1.2HighLowchangerule

:Right-handsidehightopandlowbottom
Whenthereisaverticalstroke( )intheright-handsideradical,orwhen
theleftsideissmallerthantherightside.

Examples:

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(wi)

(ch)

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(qng)

:Right-handsidelowtopandhighbottom
Whenthereishorizontalstroke( ),orwhentheleftsideisbiggerthanthe
rightside

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(rn)

(yng)

(jing)

:Right-handsidehightopandhighbottom

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Whenthereisverticalstroke()inthetop-rightside,andahorizontal
stroke()inthebottomoftherightside.

Examples:

(sh)

(rng)

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(hu)

:Right-handsidelowtopandlowbottom
Whenthereisahorizontalstroke( )inthetop-rightside,andavertical
stroke()inthebottomrightside.

Examples:

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(xng)

(dng)

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(gn)

2.LeftCenterRight
2.1LeftCenterRightProportion

Whenthereisamainhorizontalstrokeintherightradical,theproportionis
1:1:2.

Examples:

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(xi)

(h)

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(zu)

Whenthereisamainverticalstrokeintherightradical,theproportionis1:1:1.

Examples:

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(l)

(jio)

(n)
2.2HighLowchangerule

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1)LowHighLow
Whenthereisverticalstrokeinthecenterpartofthecharacter.

Examples:

(wi)

(h)
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(jin)

2)HighLowHigh
Whenthereishorizontalstrokeinthecenterpart.

Examples:

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(c)

(l)

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(sh)

3)HighHighLow
Whenthereisradicalontherightside.

Examples:

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(y)

(yng)

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(nu)

3.TopBottom&TopMiddleBottom

3.1DiamondShape
Ifthereisahorizontalstroke(,,)inthemiddle,thecharactershapewill
beadiamond.

Examples:

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(ch)

(lo)

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(n)

3.2InvertedTrapezoidShape
Ifthereisahorizontalstroke(,)inthetop,andthereisnoradicalwith
onthebottom,thecharactershapewillbeinvertedtrapezoid.

Examples:

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(bo)

(x)

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(xu)

3.3TrapezoidShape
Ifthereisonthebottom,thecharactershapewillbea
trapezoid.

Examples:

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(s)

(li)

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(k)

(zhng)

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(xi)

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