Editing Chinese characters (section)

== Structure ==
{{See also|Chinese character strokes}}
Each character of a text is written within a uniform square allotted for it. As part of the evolution from seal script into clerical script, character components became regularized as discrete series of [[Chinese character strokes|strokes]] ({{zhi|s=笔画|t=筆畫|p=bǐhuà}}).{{sfnm|Li|2020|1pp=54, 196–197|Peking University|2004|2pp=148–152|Zhou|2003|3p=88}} Strokes can be considered both the basic unit of handwriting, as well as the writing system's basic unit of [[graphemic]] organization. In clerical and regular script, individual strokes traditionally belong to one of eight categories according to their technique and graphemic function. In what is known as the ''[[Eight Principles of Yong|Eight Principles of {{tlit|zh|Yong|italics=no}}]]'', calligraphers practice their technique using the character {{zhc|c=永|p=yǒng|l=eternity}}, which can be written with one stroke of each type.{{sfnm|Norman|1988|1p=86|Zhou|2003|2p=58|Zhang|2013}} In ordinary writing, {{zhi|c=永}} is now written with five strokes instead of eight, and a system of five basic stroke types is commonly employed in analysis—with certain compound strokes treated as sequences of basic strokes made in a single motion.{{sfnm|Li|2009|1pp=65–66|Zhou|2003|2p=88}}

Characters are constructed according to predictable visual patterns. Some components have distinct combining forms when occupying specific positions within a character—for example, the {{lang|zh|⼑}} ('knife') component appears as {{kxr|刂|v=y|name=no}} on the right side of characters, but as {{kxr|⺈|v=y|name=no}} at the top of characters.{{sfn|Handel|2019|pp=43–44}} The order in which components are drawn within a character is fixed. The [[stroke order|order in which the strokes of a component are drawn]] is also largely fixed, but may vary according to several different standards.{{sfn|Yin|2016|pp=58–59}}{{sfn|Myers|2019|pp=106–116}} This is summed up in practice with a few rules of thumb, including that characters are generally assembled from left to right, then from top to bottom, with "enclosing" components started before, then closed after, the components they enclose.{{sfn|Li|2009|p=70}} For example, {{hani|永}} is drawn in the following order:
<div class="center" style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto">
{| class="wikitable"
|+ {{sronly|Sequence and placement of the strokes in {{hani|永}}}}
! scope="col" | Character !! colspan="2" scope="col" | Stroke
|-
| scope="rowgroup" rowspan="5" | [[File:永-order.webm|center|frame|alt=Animation demonstrating the stroke order of 永]]
! scope="row" | 1
| [[File:CJK Stroke D (1).svg|upright=0.125|class=skin-invert|center|frameless|alt=㇔]]
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| [[File:CJK Stroke SG.svg|upright=0.125|class=skin-invert|center|frameless|alt=㇚]]
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| [[File:Cjk m str ht.svg|upright=0.125|class=skin-invert|center|frameless|alt=乛]]
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| [[File:Regular Style CJKV Radical 004 (1).svg|upright=0.125|class=skin-invert|center|frameless|alt=丿]]
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| [[File:Cjk m str p.svg|upright=0.125|class=skin-invert|center|frameless|alt=㇏]]
|}{{pb}}
[[File:永-bw.png|upright=2|center|frameless|alt=A sequence showing the results while writing the character 永 as each stroke is added]]
</div>

=== Variant characters ===
{{Main|Variant Chinese characters}}
[[File:Variants of Kangxi radical 213 'turtle'.svg|thumb|Variants of the Chinese character for 'turtle', collected {{cx|1800}} from printed sources.{{efn-ua |{{Cite book |last=Morrison |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Morrison (missionary) |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_2va5Ayf9u-sC/bub_gb_2va5Ayf9u-sC/page/n29/mode/2up |title=Urh-chih-tsze-tëen-se-yin-pe-keáou: Being a Parallel Drawn Between the Two Intended Chinese Dictionaries |last2=Montucci |first2=Antonio |publisher=[[Cadell & Davies]], [[Boosey & Hawkes|T. Boosey]] |year=1817 |page=18}} }} The traditional form {{zhi|t=龜}} (left) is used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The simplified form {{zhi|s=龟}} (not pictured) is used in mainland China, and the simplified form {{lang|ja|亀}} (top row, third from the right) is used in Japan.|upright=1.4]]
Over a character's history, [[variant character form]]s ({{zhi|t=異體字|s=异体字|p=yìtǐzì<!-- exception to [[MOS:ZH]] -->}}) emerge via several processes. Variant forms have distinct structures, but represent the same morpheme; as such, they can be considered instances of the same underlying character. This is comparable to visually distinct double-storey {{gph|a}} and single-storey {{gph|ɑ}} forms both representing the Latin letter {{angbr|[[A]]}}. Variants also emerge for aesthetic reasons, to make handwriting easier, or to correct what the writer perceives to be errors in a character's form.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=204–215, 373}} Individual components may be replaced with visually, phonetically, or semantically similar alternatives.{{sfn|Zhou|2003|pp=57–60, 63–65}} The boundary between character structure and style—and thus whether forms represent different characters, or are merely variants of the same character—is often non-trivial or unclear.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|pp=297–300, 373}}

For example, prior to the Qin dynasty the character meaning 'bright' was written as either {{lang|zh|明}} or {{lang|zh|朙}}—with either {{lang|zh|日}} ('Sun') or {{lang|zh|囧}} ('window') on the left, and {{lang|zh|月}} ('Moon') on the right. As part of the Qin programme to standardize small seal script across China, the {{lang|zh|朙}} form was promoted. Some scribes ignored this, and continued to write the character as {{lang|zh|明}}. However, the increased usage of {{lang|zh|朙}} was followed by the proliferation of a third variant: {{lang|zh|眀}}, with {{lang|zh|目}} ('eye') on the left—likely derived as a contraction of {{lang|zh|朙}}. Ultimately, {{lang|zh|明}} became the character's standard form.{{sfn|Bökset|2006|pp=16, 19}}

=== Layout ===
{{Further|Horizontal and vertical writing in East Asian scripts}}
{{See also|Chinese punctuation|Japanese punctuation|Korean punctuation}}
From the earliest inscriptions until the 20th century, texts were generally laid out vertically—with characters written from top to bottom in columns, arranged from right to left. [[Word#Word boundaries|Word boundaries]] are generally not indicated with [[space (punctuation)|space]]s. A horizontal writing direction—with characters written from left to right in rows, arranged from top to bottom—only became predominant in the Sinosphere during the 20th century as a result of Western influence.{{sfnm|Li|2020|1p=54|Handel|2019|2p=27|Keightley|1978|3p=50}} Many publications outside mainland China continue to use the traditional vertical writing direction.{{sfnm|1a1=Taylor|1a2=Taylor|1y=2014|1pp=372–373|Bachner|2014|2p=245}} Western influence also resulted in the generalized use of punctuation being widely adopted in print during the 19th and 20th centuries. Prior to this, the context of a passage was considered adequate to guide readers; this was enabled by characters being easier to read than alphabets when [[scriptio continua|written without spaces or punctuation]] due to their more discretized shapes.{{sfnm|1a1=Needham|1a2=Harbsmeier|1y=1998|1pp=175–176|2a1=Taylor|2a2=Taylor|2y=2014|2pp=374–375}}