Learn Cangjie: the complete guide to 倉頡 input
Everything you need to go from zero to fluent Cangjie typing, in a sensible order. Start with the first guide and use the dictionary and trainer as you go.
Start here: learning path
What is Cangjie?
How the shape-based Cangjie system turns any Chinese character into a code of up to five letters, and why Hong Kong typists still swear by it.
Step 224 radicals & auxiliary shapes
Every Cangjie key, the family of look-alike shapes it covers, and real characters that show each shape in use.
Step 3Decomposition rules
The handful of rules that decide every Cangjie code, including head and body, single-unit characters, enclosures and keeping shapes whole, each shown with verified examples.
Step 4How 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.
Step 5Quick (Sucheng) input explained
How Quick shortens every Cangjie code to two letters, why it creates long candidate lists, and whether you should learn it or full Cangjie.
Step 6Difficult characters (難拆字)
The characters that trip up every Cangjie learner, grouped by the reason they are hard, with the code for each and the pattern behind it.
Step 7Install Cangjie on any device
Step-by-step settings to enable Cangjie or Quick on Windows 11, macOS, iPhone and iPad, and Android, plus how to switch input methods quickly.
Step 8Cangjie speed tips
Practical habits that move you from hunting for codes to typing at conversation speed, from touch-typing and chunking to measuring progress.
More guides
Cangjie 3 vs Cangjie 5
Why the same character can have two Cangjie codes, the systematic changes between the third and fifth generations, and a table of common characters that differ.
Cangjie vs other input methods
An honest comparison of the main ways to type Chinese: shape-based Cangjie and Quick, sound-based Pinyin, Zhuyin and Jyutping, and handwriting and voice.
Punctuation & symbols in Cangjie
Full-width Chinese punctuation, corner quotes 「」 and book-title marks 《》 with Cangjie: keyboard shortcuts plus the Z-key symbol codes.
History of Cangjie
From the legendary inventor of writing to Chu Bong-Foo’s 1976 input method, and how Cangjie became part of every computer and phone used in Hong Kong.
Cangjie for Simplified characters
How Simplified character forms decompose in Cangjie, why their codes differ from their Traditional counterparts, and the simplified radicals to learn.
Jyutping & Pinyin basics
How the Cantonese Jyutping and Mandarin Pinyin systems spell sounds, how tones are marked, and how to use them to find a character when you don’t know its Cangjie code.