The SECRET to Writing NEAT Chinese Characters

Learn the golden rule of writing Hanzi, the MOST important principle that will improve your handwriting drastically.
NOTES
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1) You should use Kaiti fonts or script fonts as a reference. See this video for more info: • THIS is the Best Chine...
2) I recommend gel pens for beginners. The one used in the video is a Bic Gelocity, but other brands will work also! Bic Gelocity: amzn.to/3EXE3ch
RESOURCES
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Hanbook » www.hanbook.com
Bic Gelocity (affiliate) » amzn.to/3EXE3ch
Practice Grids » www.purpleculture.net/chinese...
Stroke Order Rules » bit.ly/2JvjnkP
Pareto Principle » www.investopedia.com/terms/p/...
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#Chinesecharacters #Hanzi #Chinesecalligraphy

[@matthias8122]

To the folks trying to practice kanji with this: Japanese kanji and Chinese hanzi often have different stroke orders. This can affect the final look of the character, so it’s best to look at practice sources from your specific language, not a related one.

[@containternet9290]

Yeah, but since the characters have its origins in China, the Chinese fashion is the standart.

[@darcash1738]

Oh shoot I have to know the order? I’ve just been visualizing and drawing out the character on whatever felt best. What are good sources for the order, and how much does it matter?

[@Tenterasu]

@@darcash1738 There's a link in the description on stroke order, and I would say it doesn't matter too much if you just want the bare minimum of writing legible words, but it will 100% make the characters look better and make writing easier.

[@francegamble1]

Yup! I lived in Japan and been to China. The stroke orders are different and when writing quickly it shows.

[@user-ss1zn7lp1r]

学的不美不要紧，最重要是认识那个字。

[@batim6252]

I'm not even learning Chinese but I fully watched and enjoyed this video 🧍

[@ABChinese]

Wowww awesome! I wasn’t expecting that😂

[@batim6252]

@@ABChinese lmaoaoa im glad you find it awesome! it was really interesting nonetheless haha

[@WordsOfTheTeacher]

Yeah within the first ten seconds when he asked which was better I knew I wasn't qualified to understand this video lol because I don't even know which way the characters *should* look. But somehow it kept my interest anyway lol

[@batim6252]

@@WordsOfTheTeacher ikr! Atp I'm just entertained by anything 😭😭

[@wanari.]

@@lackyjake3301 it's simplified chinese, genius

[@senapus1241]

Thank you for your advice. I'm not learning Hanzi but Kanji, but your tipps will also help me.

[@accuratebalance5097]

Actually, some ideas for calligraphy are not the same in Chinese and Japanese.

[@as2s3hf7gff]

I'm learning both, so, yeahhh

[@purple_sky]

Same!!

[@ajasilikonreffkmimmon]

Careful, not every character has the same stroke order and starting point

[@Sufjan4ever]

Even his “bad” handwriting looks better than mine :(

[@haskisas]

Thanks for the tips! I'm taking my HSK3 tomorrow, I'll keep these in mind during the last part haha

[@ABChinese]

Good luck! 你可以的👻

[@pllvt]

good luck! :)

[@puikwanchan6369]

Ty I am In hk but I am the worst at drawing chinese so thanks

[@yenneeloh298]

@@ABChinese 我是你的fan im your fan

[@yenneeloh298]

hi

[@tyleralyssa2875]

This legit changed the game. I have never understood why I could never get my handwriting to turn out remotely legible but this is such a simple concept to keep in mind!!

[@stanleystrem6029]

This is sooo helpful, thanks I am learning Japanese and in Japanese they use Chinese symbols and I was wondering why they looked so bad but now I know why! Tysm

[@t1msmurff990]

I am a beginner Chinese learner, and it's pretty difficult to focus on proportions for me, but I think I'll cope. Thanks for the tutorial, man!

[@YLingdesu]

I'm Chinese and I don't even know these tips, damn. Thanks for the explain!

[@eternal_seokjin7441]

2:30 THIS! I struggle with this without even realizing it 😂 Great tip

[@TennisGvy]

Wow, that's a lot of information packed into 6 minutes

[@ABChinese]

Yes, I don’t waste time😉

[@insideout9824]

For now, being able to write Chinese character already a blessing to me

[@BenjaminNixon]

These are some great tips, and ones that I haven't seen elsewhere. Your handwriting is superb too!

[@HeiressEllie]

your handwriting is so good, even when you make a mistake it still looks nice.

[@balford2112]

Thank you. Your answered questions I had been having for some time. Keep up the great work!

[@reynardine6315]

Great tips, and very clearly explained! Thank you!

[@ainoame16]

These are great tips! I'm excited to try them out. 感谢!

[@angelanovita2922]

Thanks for the amazing tips! Gonna apply these to my Chinese writing. 💪

[@caprichoimperial2203]

Absolutly great! Thank you!!!

[@carmenthue-tun7512]

Thank you a lot for this excellent lesson 👍👍👍

[@Theo-oh3jk]

For me, at least, I can never get my characters looking right with a pencil or pen. When I use a brush pen, such as the tombow brand, they start to look okay. But my handwriting sucks generally, in any language. Weirdly, my very cursive handwriting tends to look okay, even though it's somewhat unorthodox. I also wanted to to say that I've found a local-ish Chinese class so that I can resume my formal study! I'm not sure it's the right level, but I will soon find out later this week! Also, do you know why Mandarin speakers slip extra u's into their speech? Is it dialectal? I do know it's annoying. For example: instead of xiong, xing, or even qin, they will go xiung, xiung, and qiung.

[@nicoleraheem1195]

And that Ng sounds like it vibrates in the throat

[@dazc9965]

The -ung is dialect, yes. In some places in China, the -in and -ing sound is more noticeably differentiated by the extra "u" in -ing words. In other places the -in and -ing sounds are so close a lot of non-native speakers aren't able to hear any difference at all. I can't say I've heard qin -> qiung before though in the places that do have the more front-based velar nasal, it's typically more a "qyin" sound. How is it annoying, if i'm bold enough to be curious?

[@Theo-oh3jk]

@@dazc9965 it's annoying because I can't tell if they're saying xing or xiong etc. They both become xiung.

[@dazc9965]

@@Theo-oh3jk Think of it as the difference between "lung" and "bone" maybe? (not that accurate obviously but in the vein) I've never thought about it before but yeah it probably is tricky for non-native speakers haha

[@mariesylvainerochefeuille]

Thank you for the lesson.

[@smokypoo]

cool video! I'm trying to improve my writing as I can't seem to get some hanzi to look good at all lol and thanks also fo the pen recommendations!

[@learningchinese713]

Always wanted to be able to write like this 📝

[@perforMING88]

Thanks for this awesome tips... although have been writing chinese for years... still not able to write neatly... I find that the Longest Stroke method is the most challenging...

[@puikwanchan6369]

Same I am 9 years old and I am the worst at drawing Chinese in my class so this definitely helped me

[@JiXiangWang-sn4vs]

I love to write complicated characters! I feel so pleasure to write them! Both the Simplified and Traditional Chinese are my favourite and Cantonese too! However the best thing about the Simplied Chinese to me is that they are so cool and cute to me. 有是繁体比简体好看的字，有时简体比繁体好看的字！❤❤❤

[@kairu_b]

Very helpful video!

[@gordierye7590]

Such a cogent, pristine but lively vid. Awesome! The best!

[@nelsons548]

I've been dying to know how to make them look good! Thanks so much for the tips!

[@theArkoslaw]

I just have started to practice Hanzi.. so that video just poped out on my YT channel and I discover your channel very helpful on my lonely journey to learn Chinese somehow, haha. Thanks for that.. great job! P.S. And you are cute, haha

[@nicoleraheem1195]

I love these pens!!!

[@wanchiz]

Not trying to be critical but the first rule to write NEAT Chinese characters, learn traditional Chinese. Worth the time to appreciate the reason why do they look so complicated.

[@savitreeee]

thx !! So useful !!

[@sls_creations]

that was really helpful, thank you! only at the beginning of studying chinese, does it make sense to focus on such a profound approch to writing, what do you think?

[@eccomaggio1]

really good advice :)

[@hazel_pipe3442]

Thank you so much for sharing these tips. I love writing Chiese, they feel like drawing. But for some reason(must be the reason you have mentioned here) most of my characters look like they got hit by something, ate too much/too little, or have some incurable chronic disease!!! Now I can improve more 谢谢!!

[@user-wm9sj8ce1c]

I recommend this book to you，《楷书间架结构九十二法》by黄自元。

[@freedomisbest9029]

I dun even care about my handwriting in my Chinese compo exam. In that time, it's all about speeed now AHAHAJAA

[@cogn100]

The B looks better bc the different lines and dots r on the right place, like the dots r inside of the 2 dot lines at the upper side and so on. I know this bc I’m Chinese.

[@bassdayesammydass-rice9430]

Thank you

[@chriskitsios6029]

WOW! I saw something that blew me off. In Japanese 福 ’ｓ田's writing order is left vertical, corner and then VERTICAL first. But in 2:27 I saw that you did inner horizontal first. :O :O The writing order is NOT the same???

[@kanzouu]

yeah its different LOL

[@chriskitsios6029]

@Last First I can't Ignore japanese cause I am hafu, but sure I care about the source. I am also half Greek but I won't tell any white dude to ignore their language and learn Greek or Latin.

[@kanzouu]

@@chriskitsios6029 learning latin does not automatically mean you learn how to speak english! learning both the chinese and japanese method of writing characters is very beneficial.

[@chriskitsios6029]

@@kanzouu Yes, my point exactly... That's why I wouldn't tell anyone to learn Latin or Greek... Unless you wanna be a doctor in english spoken countries, where Greek are definetely gonna help you a lot. :P

[@ChristianJiang]

@@chriskitsios6029 Loool I can’t believe you were told to “ignore Japanese”… that ain’t a language tip at all, wtf is that actually haha EDIT: By the way, it’s true! There are differences in stroke order. 生 as well, I think in Japanese the third stroke is the vertical one, whereas in Chinese that would be the fourth stroke (with the third one being the shorter horizontal stroke in the middle)!

[@paradoxelle481]

I'm studying Japanese but hopefully this will help my kanji game!

[@paradoxelle481]

@Michael Davise ああ、なるほど　頑張ってください！

[@tonyeclau]

Wow! Thanks

[@Sakura81501]

Loll. What a coincindence. I just learned about the Pareto effect for my college business related class today. And what are the chances that i would see this in a random chinese handwriting video!!

[@ABChinese]

That's awesome lol

[@pptskills]

非常精良的制作！

[@ABChinese]

谢了谢了！我继续努力😇

[@skritterjake]

Love this video!

[@ABChinese]

Hey man, thanks for coming by! I love seeing your study progress on Insta too

[@skritterjake]

@@ABChinese Cheers! Keep kicking ass. Your handwriting is inspiring :)

[@frankyee6442]

Thanks!

[@ABChinese]

You're welcome!

[@X.iao_Liang]

When I write, it looks more sloppy than I would prefer. Thank you very much for the information!

[@limedwardster]

Using Sogou keyboard to input Chinese character. The keyboard can switch between English and Chinese keyboard. Voice select Chinese.so that can input method

[@itsaQura]

謝謝你！ thank you :D

[@ABChinese]

welcome!

[@zwepyae6591]

谢谢🙏

[@JiXiangWang-sn4vs]

Me by Yeshua's Grace, I could write Chinese characters so perfectly! After watching this video, I get to know that I was already following the rules by accident! Thanks for the video.

[@mariano0800]

great!

[@user-hu4qy6bd7z]

台灣使用的是正體字，符合字理和字源的形體，六書造字理據，及古人傳承，又表義準確。是一脈相承使用的正統漢字，對應簡化字稱為繁體字。 中國使用的是簡體字，史達林指示廢除漢字，是編制的簡化字，中國公布〈漢字簡化方案〉和《決議》。簡化字取得了中國的「法定文字」地位。

[@deaddeer7179]

My handwriting is pretty ungly so thanks for this

[@606aichan7O7]

I feel like I just need to practice w/ grids rather than on plain paper (I say this as if my English is neat)....or like actually practice writing characters (I can read stuff, but I suck at remembering what I want to write so if I rly want to write characters, I just find the word via pinyin/hiragana, and then write it painstakingly slow until I'm satisfied)

[@hendywijaya3213]

Thanks for the advice.. my hanzi looks awful and I dunno what's wrong..

[@vilyar122]

I am that person who goes back in to touch up my words

[@shimis10]

谢谢

[@orcalebiamjoshua828]

I already understand Chinese but good tips

nice

[@BrYanwithaY1986]

First few seconds: "A, definitely A." Video: "You can probably tell that B is written much better than A."

[@bangtan_army1102]

Great advice

[@edwardlim4553]

To recognize 谁( ) ， compose of 3part 讠，亻，圭( same shape but good enough). Many character form by these part. If don't like stroke method. Can draw part on handphone screen. 亖 shape but common see is 三 住,主，注，班。Learn Chinese, must learn to speak. Following a paragraph of Chinese story, follow voice repeatedly, and write on, to emphasize n remember better

[@edwardlim4553]

讠related to voice. 讠short form of 言。character are 说话， 喊讲话，same character not related to voice are 记 认,证，让 ，训练

[@nicoleraheem1195]

How long have you been learning?

[@peanutjam]

I am learning Chinese but I don’t care how my handwriting looks at all, as long as it’s correct, it’s fine for me. When I see *actual* messy Chinese handwriting, I can’t read a thing. 😄

[@angelodemian2828]

谢谢 a lot for the tips! I just had a question - what would you say the meaning of 辉煌 would be?

[@ABChinese]

不客气！That’s a tricky one… it means something like grandeur or glorious but I would translate it differently depending on the context.

[@angelodemian2828]

@@ABChinese Ok thanks! But what would you say the translation of 'Glorious' would be then?

[@ABChinese]

@@angelodemian2828 I would caution you against thinking of them as perfect translations, but 荣耀 is closer to the English "glory". 辉煌 refers more to the expression of glory than the title of glorious. For example, in my limited experience, 辉煌 is very commonly used in 灯火辉煌, often used to describe the splendor of a city, especially at night. 荣耀 is more often used as the title, like in the Chinese game 王者荣耀 = Honor of Kings. Hope that helps!

[@angelodemian2828]

@@ABChinese Oh ok. Thanks a lot for that explanation. It really helps! I can't wait for your next video! I really enjoy watching them! 祝你有辉煌的一天！

[@ABChinese]

Haha thanks! But umm, you usually wouldn’t use it like that😅

[@beatrixcordes4425]

请问，what type of ball pen do you use in the video? I've been trying to find a good ballpoint pen for writing hanzi but cannot seem to find one that makes it easy to make strokes with different width. Like some strokes are supposed to start out wide and end narrow so you have to push the pet down more at the beginning compared to the end of the stroke... Anyhow, thx for the video, I've really had issues with the proportions of my hanzi so I will try to divide the square/hanzi into parts like you suggested and see how it goes :D Have an awesome day :)

[@ABChinese]

You can’t use ball point pens if you want stroke variance, you have to use gel pens. The one in the video is Bic Gelocity. Most brands will work though. Another pen I like is the Pilot Precise V5, even though that pen is a rollerball pen. Hope that helps!

[@beatrixcordes4425]

@@ABChinese Thanks for the tips! I will be on the look out for them pens in the bookstores.

[@beatrixcordes4425]

@@ABChinese btw, do you have any tips for where one could find some spread sheets with just empty squares with the diagonal dotted lines. I know of the site called smth like purple culture smth smth... But I haven't seen any place where you could just get A4 with empty squares...

[@ABChinese]

@@beatrixcordes4425 You can do that on purpleculture... under "grid style" select "none" and that will get you just the squares!

[@beatrixcordes4425]

@@ABChinese sigh, that was so easy. Now I feel a bit stupid... XD I did not even bother to look there since I just assumed that since I was "supposed" to write hanzi that I wanted to include in the draft then I wouldn't be able to make a blank one... FML... Thx again, you're a real champ

[@sarcasmo57]

I will always have messy writing. No time to fix it.

[@danisarteaga6475]

Dúo xie'Lao shi'❤️ 😊

[@user-wm9sj8ce1c]

you need this book《楷书间架结构九十二法》by黄自元。

[@hanshengz4291]

学到了

[@jbc8220]

How hard is it to write if youre left handed?

[@lamphiaalonso5341]

me, who doesnt speak chinese and its not planning to learn: ah yes, now i know how to write better hanzi!

[@spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace]

0:50 the vewy scawy duolingo owl is here

[@ultimatemunplayz951]

I am watching this to write better in my 华文习字

[@Chinaziland]

0:17 why couldn't you write the example on the right as good as others?

[@yaroslavromanyuk5669]

Me, learning Japanese: - Uh-huh, hanzi, yep. *nodding vigorously*

[@Yue_mariin00]

Bro me too but like,,, your comment and tone do not sit right in a video about Chinese, please just be respectful of it and be grateful if it's also useful to you

[@garden2356]

1:27 proportions

[@abdullahiabdiazizmohamed7680]

我没有这样的汉子书📚 ， how 🤔 can i get it

[@ABChinese]

You can download it. Check the link in the description, but it’s free to download on purpleculture.net

[@josephmak0865]

key to write neatly is to A LOT of PRACTICE,...

[@oldsachem]

What does the hanzi 情妇 mean?

[@mayanlogos92]

B is better cs it's on a natural flow On A it looks forced and ig it was drawn much slower too

[@megabastos]

💗

[@cxchea]

我也是學書法的

[@Thuytien-nr7jw]

I really like Chinese characters, but I don't know how to write Chinese characters, hope someone can tell me

[@angelacoco3365]

Fighting!!!!

[@sangitadangol87]

下次再见。

[@user-hu4qy6bd7z]

對比一下漢文（繁體字）、中文（簡體字）和日語的漢字，有哪些微妙區别？ 1.漢文（繁體字），使用的是正體字，符合字理和字源的形體，六書造字理據及古人傳承，又表義準確。是一脈相承使用的正統漢字，對應簡化字稱為繁體字。 2.中文（簡體字），是編制的簡化字，簡化字失去了文字本義無法觀字識義，中國公布〈漢字簡化方案〉和《決議》。簡化字取得了中國的「法定文字」地位。 3.日語的漢字，日本使用的是口語拼音文化，假借漢字來表記，日本的漢字簡化，只與人的口語表意變化有關，而與字的圖象本義無關，並不會改變人的本性。

[@holacuba2001]

You should explain "police", very difficult

[@theayeshaerotica]

I just realised that 焉 wasn't ever simplified the 灬 should have simplified to 一 🤷🏻

[@ChristianJiang]

Yeah, there are some weird things in simplified Chinese… 所 has a traditional component on the left, which is written as 户 in simplified Chinese (cf. 戶 in traditional Chinese). And there’s more…

[@user-hu4qy6bd7z]

中華文化復興之鑰，是繁體字的"國學復興"。

[@kimoreta1284]

Spanish subtitles please

[@candylin7964]

What pen do you use to write?

[@Yue_mariin00]

I don't think you watched the video, hm. In the video it's telling you to check the description for information about his pens, you shall find them there.

[@gdjulianscrib3838]

I dare you to try writing biang biang mian NEATLY

[@chulove522]

我，一個中文母語者，竟然在看一個英文影片教我怎麼寫中文

[@byeguyssry]

"Which is written better, A or B?" Me: They look pretty equal to me. I guess after a bit of thought A looks slightly better? Aight imma head straight out.

[@888SpinR]

80:20 rule is not even scratching the surface. In contrast to your 6-minute video, I spent 6 f*ng years being taught that to write neat characters, just write the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over again. To ZERO effect.

[@remiscute753]

Idc this when i writing lol

[@pigmilk]

This is better 誰

[@cottoncandyangela2034]

… That is hard lol

[@redtequila]

B

[@rameshchandrasharma2634]

我还没有吃完呢

[@user-tu2cl6np6r]

您好，我是泰国人

[@angelacoco3365]

你好👋