Number of characters |
Dictionary |
Period |
Date |
3,300 |
Cangjiepian, Yuanlipian, Boxuepian |
Qin |
221-206 BC |
9,535 |
Shuowen jiezi |
Eastern Han |
100 AD |
16,917 |
Yupian |
Liang |
543 |
26,149 |
Guangyun |
Northern Song |
1011 |
32,200 |
Hongwu zhengyun |
Ming |
1375 |
47,043 |
Kangxi zidian |
Qing |
1716 |
48,000 |
Zhonghua da cidian |
ROC |
1916 |
56,000 |
Xiandai Hanyu da zidian |
PRC |
1986-90 |
Although around 56,000 characters have been accumulated in Chinese, only a few thousand are needed to write Modern Chinese. A large part of the 56,000 characters (40 percent) are variants of a same character (yiti).
Number of characters |
Coverage rate (per cent) |
500 |
80 |
1,000 |
91 |
2,400 |
99 |
3,800 |
99.9 |
5,200 |
99.99 |
6,600 |
99.999 |
|
How to Learn Chinese
