---
title: "Chinese characters that look like pictures (汉字里的画) | HSK 3 Chinese Reading with Pinyin and Audio | Mandarin The Wild"
description: "Chinese characters that look like pictures. A girl, a pencil and her first Chinese characters. Inside each one, a little picture is hiding. Read this article in Mandarin, free, with audio."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/chinese-characters-that-look-like-pictures"
published: "2026-10-04"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

Original article · [HSK 3](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/hsk-3)

# 汉字里的画

Chinese characters that look like pictures

琪琪七岁，今天第一次写汉字。她看着“人”字，大叫：“爸爸，这个字在走路！”

爸爸笑了：“对！最早的汉字，很多是画。”

他写了一个“日”：“这是太阳。最早的‘日’是一个圆，里面有一个小点。”他还写了“月”和“山”：“这是月亮，这是山。你看，山有三个山头。”

琪琪说：“我也写一个！”她写了一个“口”，张大嘴：“口！”

爸爸写了一个“木”：“这是树。”

“两个‘木’呢？”

“是‘林’，很多树。”

琪琪马上写了三个“木”：“这个我知道！‘森’，很多很多树！”

爸爸写了一个“大”。琪琪站起来，张开手和脚：“我也是‘大’！”

写了一下午，琪琪累了。她坐在门口的树下。

爸爸看看她，写了一个字：休息的“休”。“你看，一个人在树下休息。”

琪琪笑了：“爸爸，我现在也是一个字！”

Source notes

Common knowledge · the classic pictographs taught to every Chinese child

**221 characters** in this article

HSK 3 · 1 min audio**为什么中国人见面总问“吃了吗”？**

[Next reading 为什么中国人见面总问“吃了吗”？](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/why-do-chinese-people-ask-have-you-eaten)

## Words in this article

- [圆yuánround](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/%E5%9C%86)
- [太阳tàiyángsun](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/%E5%A4%AA%E9%98%B3)
- [山shānmountain](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/%E5%B1%B1)
- [月亮yuèliangthe moon](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/%E6%9C%88%E4%BA%AE)
- [树shùtree](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/%E6%A0%91)
- [马上mǎshàngimmediately](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/%E9%A9%AC%E4%B8%8A)
- [脚jiǎofoot](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/%E8%84%9A)

## Grammar in this article

- [**verb (+ 了) + duration (for how long)**for … (how long … lasts)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/duration)
- [**在 + … + 下**under …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/zai-xia-place)
- [**verb reduplicated (VV)**do something a little; give it a try](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/vv)

Article · 1 min