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初 — at first; initially; first

at first; initially; first; early

Pinyin
chū
Strokes
7
HSK level
HSK 3
Handwriting
recognition only

How to write 初: 7 strokes

Each cell adds one stroke to the previous ones, with the new stroke in red. Stroke order is not decoration: it sets the proportions of the character and makes handwriting legible to a reader. The syllabus asks you to recognise this character rather than write it by hand.

初 — 7 strokes, in writing order from left to right.

Build a printable practice sheet with 初

Words with 初 in the HSK syllabus: 11

Every word in the official 2026 syllabus that contains this character, with the level it is introduced at. Learning a character pays off through these: each one combines with the characters you already know.

  1. 初中chūzhōngjunior high schoolHSK 3
  2. 初chūat first; initially; first; earlyHSK 5
  3. 初级chūjíjunior; primaryHSK 5
  4. 初期chūqīinitial stage; beginning periodHSK 5
  5. 年初niánchūbeginning of the yearHSK 5
  6. 最初zuìchūfirst; primary; initial; original; at firstHSK 5
  7. 初步chūbùinitial; preliminary; tentativeHSK 6
  8. 初等chūděngelementaryHSK 6
  9. 当初dāngchūat that time; originallyHSK 6
  10. 起初qǐchūoriginally; at first; at the outsetHSK 6
  11. 初衷chūzhōngoriginal intentionHSK 7–9

Glosses come from CC-CEDICT, used under CC BY-SA 4.0, and are the dictionary’s first sense rather than a translation chosen for context.