Have you ever wondered how Chinese characters were formed? Chinese characters are one of the oldest writing systems in the world, dating back over 3,000 years. They are made up of radicals, which are the building blocks of characters. There are two main types of radicals: semantic radicals, which give clues to the meaning of a character, and phonetic radicals, which give clues to the pronunciation. For example, the character for water 水 is composed of the radical 氵and the character for power 力. The formation of Chinese characters can be traced back to ancient pictograms, which were simplified and stylized over time. For example, the character for horse 马 was originally a drawing of a horse. Understanding how Chinese characters are formed can help you better remember and recognize them. Next time you see a Chinese character, try breaking it down into its radicals to understand its meaning and pronunciation better. Practice writing characters and you'll be able to master this beautiful writing system in no time!