The 300 Most Common Chinese Characters (Traditional) with Cangjie Codes
The most frequent Traditional Chinese characters in order, with Cangjie and Quick codes, and how many characters you actually need to read everyday Chinese.
Key takeaways
- A small number of characters does most of the work: according to mainland China’s 1988 frequency study, the 2,500 most common characters cover about 98% of modern text, and 3,500 cover about 99.5%.
- The list below ranks Traditional characters using corpus frequency, mapped from Simplified to Traditional forms, and Hong Kong common-character data.
- Learn to type these in Cangjie first: they give the fastest return on practice.
How many characters do you need?
Chinese has tens of thousands of characters, but usage is extremely uneven. The List of Frequently Used Characters in Modern Chinese (現代漢語常用字表, 1988) found that its 2,500 common characters covered about 97.97% of a large text sample, and the next 1,000 brought coverage to about 99.48%. Hong Kong’s school character list contains about 4,700 characters. For practical reading, about 2,000–3,000 well-known characters is a common target.
The top 100
| Character | Cangjie code | Radicals | Quick |
|---|---|---|---|
| 的 | HAPI | 竹H日A心P戈I | HI |
| 一 | M | 一M | M |
| 是 | AMYO | 日A一M卜Y人O | AO |
| 不 | MF | 一M火F | MF |
| 在 | KLG | 大K中L土G | KG |
| 人 | O | 人O | O |
| 有 | KB | 大K月B | KB |
| 我 | HQI | 竹H手Q戈I | HI |
| 他 | OPD | 人O心P木D | OD |
| 這 | YYMR | 卜Y卜Y一M口R | YR |
| 個 | OWJR | 人O田W十J口R | OR |
| 們 | OAN | 人O日A弓N | ON |
| 中 | L | 中L | L |
| 來 | DOO | 木D人O人O | DO |
| 上 | YM | 卜Y一M | YM |
| 大 | K | 大K | K |
| 為 | IKNF | 戈I大K弓N火F | IF |
| 和 | HDR | 竹H木D口R | HR |
| 國 | WIRM | 田W戈I口R一M | WM |
| 地 | GPD | 土G心P木D | GD |
| 到 | MGLN | 一M土G中L弓N | MN |
| 以 | VIO | 女V戈I人O | VO |
| 說 | YRCRU | 卜Y口R金C口R山U | YU |
| 時 | AGDI | 日A土G木D戈I | AI |
| 要 | MWV | 一M田W女V | MV |
| 就 | YFIKU | 卜Y火F戈I大K山U | YU |
| 會 | OMWA | 人O一M田W日A | OA |
| 可 | MNR | 一M弓N口R | MR |
| 也 | PD | 心P木D | PD |
| 你 | ONF | 人O弓N火F | OF |
| 對 | TGDI | 廿T土G木D戈I | TI |
| 生 | HQM | 竹H手Q一M | HM |
| 能 | IBPP | 戈I月B心P心P | IP |
| 而 | MBLL | 一M月B中L中L | ML |
| 子 | ND | 弓N木D | ND |
| 那 | SQNL | 尸S手Q弓N中L | SL |
| 得 | HOAMI | 竹H人O日A一M戈I | HI |
| 於 | YSOY | 卜Y尸S人O卜Y | YY |
| 著 | TJKA | 廿T十J大K日A | TA |
| 下 | MY | 一M卜Y | MY |
| 自 | HBU | 竹H月B山U | HU |
| 之 | INO | 戈I弓N人O | IO |
| 年 | OQ | 人O手Q | OQ |
| 過 | YBBR | 卜Y月B月B口R | YR |
| 發 | NONHE | 弓N人O弓N竹H水E | NE |
| 後 | HOVIE | 竹H人O女V戈I水E | HE |
| 作 | OOS | 人O人O尸S | OS |
| 用 | BQ | 月B手Q | BQ |
| 道 | YTHU | 卜Y廿T竹H山U | YU |
| 行 | HOMMN | 竹H人O一M一M弓N | HN |
| 所 | HSHML | 竹H尸S竹H一M中L | HL |
| 然 | BKF | 月B大K火F | BF |
| 種 | HDHJG | 竹H木D竹H十J土G | HG |
| 事 | JLLN | 十J中L中L弓N | JN |
| 成 | IHS | 戈I竹H尸S | IS |
| 方 | YHS | 卜Y竹H尸S | YS |
| 多 | NINI | 弓N戈I弓N戈I | NI |
| 經 | VFMVM | 女V火F一M女V一M | VM |
| 麼 | IDVI | 戈I木D女V戈I | II |
| 去 | GI | 土G戈I | GI |
| 法 | EGI | 水E土G戈I | EI |
| 學 | HBND | 竹H月B弓N木D | HD |
| 如 | VR | 女V口R | VR |
| 都 | JANL | 十J日A弓N中L | JL |
| 現 | MGBUU | 一M土G月B山U山U | MU |
| 當 | FBRW | 火F月B口R田W | FW |
| 沒 | ENE | 水E弓N水E | EE |
| 動 | HGKS | 竹H土G大K尸S | HS |
| 起 | GOSU | 土G人O尸S山U | GU |
| 看 | HQBU | 竹H手Q月B山U | HU |
| 定 | JMYO | 十J一M卜Y人O | JO |
| 天 | MK | 一M大K | MK |
| 分 | CSH | 金C尸S竹H | CH |
| 還 | YWLV | 卜Y田W中L女V | YV |
| 進 | YOG | 卜Y人O土G | YG |
| 好 | VND | 女V弓N木D | VD |
| 小 | NC | 弓N金C | NC |
| 部 | YRNL | 卜Y口R弓N中L | YL |
| 其 | TMMC | 廿T一M一M金C | TC |
| 些 | YPMM | 卜Y心P一M一M | YM |
| 主 | YG | 卜Y土G | YG |
| 樣 | DTGE | 木D廿T土G水E | DE |
| 理 | MGWG | 一M土G田W土G | MG |
| 心 | P | 心P | P |
| 她 | VPD | 女V心P木D | VD |
| 本 | DM | 木D一M | DM |
| 前 | TBLN | 廿T月B中L弓N | TN |
| 開 | ANMT | 日A弓N一M廿T | AT |
| 但 | OAM | 人O日A一M | OM |
| 因 | WK | 田W大K | WK |
| 從 | HOOOO | 竹H人O人O人O人O | HO |
| 想 | DUP | 木D山U心P | DP |
| 實 | JWJC | 十J田W十J金C | JC |
| 日 | A | 日A | A |
| 軍 | BJWJ | 月B十J田W十J | BJ |
| 者 | JKA | 十J大K日A | JA |
| 意 | YTAP | 卜Y廿T日A心P | YP |
| 無 | OTF | 人O廿T火F | OF |
| 力 | KS | 大K尸S | KS |
| 它 | JP | 十J心P | JP |
Characters 101–300
How the ranking was made
Most large frequency counts are based on Simplified Chinese text. We map each count to the corresponding Traditional form and push down rarer forms when one Simplified character stands for several Traditional ones, such as 发 for 發 and 髮. Characters in Hong Kong’s common character list come first. The order is a practical guide rather than an exact measurement of Hong Kong usage.
Practise these characters
- Drill them in the Cangjie typing trainer using the top 100 and top 500 sets.
- Print a practice sheet for handwriting.
- Browse more common characters in the dictionary, or by Hong Kong primary grade.
Related guides
How to learn Cangjie (30-day plan)
A realistic day-by-day plan that takes you from memorising the radicals to typing everyday Chinese, with the drills that actually build speed.
Helping children with dictation
Research-informed, practical techniques for parents to help children remember Chinese characters: components and stories, spaced practice, active recall and a stress-free dictation week plan.
Hong Kong standard forms
What Hong Kong’s List of Graphemes of Commonly-Used Chinese Characters is, why HK, Taiwan and mainland glyphs differ slightly, and what it means for students and typists.
Radicals (部首) explained
What radicals are, how the 214 Kangxi radicals organise every dictionary, the variant forms they take, and how radicals differ from Cangjie’s 24 keys.