Hanzi (Chinese characters) 漢字 (汉字)

hànzì · from Chinese

What are hanzi?

Hanzi are Chinese characters, the logographic script of Chinese, each usually representing one syllable and one meaningful unit.

Characters date back over 3,000 years to oracle bone inscriptions. Most are built from components that hint at meaning (radicals) and sound (phonetic components). Around 3,500 characters cover the vast majority of modern text, and they were borrowed as kanji in Japan, hanja in Korea and chữ Hán in Vietnam.

Examples

人 rén (person); 好 hǎo (good: woman + child); 媽 mā (mother: woman + horse as sound); 漢字 hànzì (Chinese character)

Kungfucius says: Chinese characters are not pictures. Except the ones that are. Mostly they are puzzles with a sound clue.