The character 理 — “order”: how to write it and what it means
order; manage
The Chinese character 理 is read lǐ and means “order; manage”. Below: the stroke order step by step, what the character is made of and the words it appears in.
Stroke order: how to write 理
理 has 11 strokes. At each step the new stroke is highlighted — write them in the same order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical, a frame before what is inside it, and the bottom stroke of the frame last.
To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for 理, with strokes to trace and empty squares.
What 理 is made of
On the left, 王 “jade”; on the right, 里 lǐ hints at the sound.
The parts of a character hint at its meaning or its reading — more in the article “Chinese character radicals”.
Words with 理
- 经理managerHSK 3
- 理解understand (deeply)HSK 4
- 理想ideal, dream; idealHSK 4
- 整理sort out, organizeHSK 4
- 修理repairHSK 4
- 理发get a haircutHSK 4
- 管理manage; managementHSK 4
- 办理process (documents)HSK 4
- 心理mind; psychologicalHSK 5
- 理由reason, argumentHSK 5
- 合理reasonableHSK 5
- 处理handle, processHSK 5
- 物理physicsHSK 5
- 理论theoryHSK 5
- 道理reason, senseHSK 5
- 地理geographyHSK 5
Frequently asked questions
How do you write the character 理?
理 has 11 strokes. They follow the usual rules: top to bottom, left to right, horizontal before vertical, outside before inside. The order of each stroke is shown on this page.
What does 理 mean?
理 means “order; manage”. It appears in 经理 (“manager”), 理解 (“understand”), 理想 (“ideal”), 整理 (“sort out”).
How do you pronounce 理?
理 is read lǐ. The tone is part of the reading: with another melody it becomes another syllable.
How many strokes does 理 have?
11 strokes.
More characters on the page “Chinese characters with meanings” and in the list of HSK characters by level; whole words are in the dictionary.
Write 理 yourself
In the lessons you write characters stroke by stroke with a finger or a mouse, and the course checks the order. You can start for free, no sign-up needed.
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