Character Decomposer
Break any Chinese character down into the smaller components and radicals it is built from, shown as a visual tree. Understand how characters are composed — the fastest way to remember them.
Why decompose Chinese characters?
Most Chinese characters are not random strokes — they are built from a small set of reusable parts (components and radicals) arranged in a layout. Strong learners recognise those parts instead of memorising every stroke, which makes characters dramatically faster to learn and recall. This tool reveals that structure for any character and lets you keep drilling down: 想 → 相 + 心, and 相 → 木 + 目.
The 12 layout symbols (IDS operators)
Each branch of the tree is labelled with an Ideographic Description Character that shows how the parts are arranged:
| Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⿰ | left · right | ⿹ | surround from top-right |
| ⿱ | top · bottom | ⿺ | surround from bottom-left |
| ⿲ | left · middle · right | ⿴ | full surround |
| ⿳ | top · middle · bottom | ⿵ | surround, open bottom |
| ⿷ | surround, open right | ⿶ | surround, open top |
| ⿸ | surround from top-left | ⿻ | overlaid / overlapping |
Components vs. radicals
Every character has one radical — the part traditionally used to index it in a dictionary — but it may contain several components. A component often hints at meaning (the 心 "heart" in 想 "to think") or sound (相 xiāng giving 想 xiǎng its reading). Seeing both is the fastest route to remembering a character for good.
Composition data from the open CHISE / CJKVI IDS project; rare components are rendered with the HanaMin font.
Frequently asked questions
What is character decomposition?
Most Chinese characters are made of smaller reusable parts (components and radicals) arranged in a layout — left/right, top/bottom, surrounding, and so on. Seeing those parts makes characters far easier to learn and recall.
What do the symbols like ⿰ and ⿱ mean?
They are Ideographic Description Characters that show the layout: ⿰ is left-then-right, ⿱ is top-then-bottom, ⿴ is surround, and so on. Each is labelled in the result.
Where does the data come from?
From the open CHISE / CJKVI IDS database of character composition.