How to Write 里 (lǐ) in Chinese

Stroke order animation, 7-step breakdown, and a printable tracing worksheet for the character 里.

Key facts

Character: 里
Pinyin: lǐ (tone marks) · li (plain)
Strokes: 7
Written in: Standard (simplified) Chinese, mainland stroke order

Watch the animation, study each numbered stroke below, then print the tracing sheet to practice by hand. Correct stroke order makes your handwriting faster, neater, and easier to memorize.

Character evolution: 里 over 3,000 years

Oracle bone 甲骨文

c. 1250–1050 BC

No attested oracle bone form in our sources

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Bronze 金文

c. 1000–221 BC

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Small seal 小篆

221 BC –

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Regular script 楷书

modern standard

里

Arphic Public License, via Make Me a Hanzi

里 (lǐ) is a Ideograph / compound ideograph (指事/会意) — an idea built from symbols or combined parts. Unit of measure for farm 田 land 土. For 里 we have attested bronze and small seal forms. No oracle bone form survives in our sources — many characters simply were not written down (or not yet excavated) in that medium. The small seal script standardized under the Qin dynasty is the ancestor of every modern form; clerical script (隶书) later flattened its curves into straight strokes, giving the regular script we write today. Glyphs: Wikimedia Commons Ancient Chinese Characters project — per-file credits on our glyph attribution page.

How this character works

Formation: 指事/会意 Ideograph / compound ideograph — an idea built from symbols or combined parts
How it works: Unit of measure for farm 田 land 土
Decomposition: ⿱田土
Radical: 里 — see the radical index
Meaning: unit of distance equal to 0.5km; village; lane

Formation data: Make Me a Hanzi dictionary.txt (LGPL v3+). Learn the logic behind all characters in our guide to Chinese character etymology and the six scripts.

Step-by-step stroke breakdown (7 strokes)

Stroke 1

Stroke 2

Stroke 3

Stroke 4

Stroke 5

Stroke 6

Stroke 7

Printable practice sheet for 里

First cell shows the full character lightly; the following cells reveal one more stroke at a time. Print and trace with a pencil.

Frequently asked questions

How many strokes does 里 have?

The Chinese character 里 (lǐ) is written with 7 strokes. The correct stroke order is shown step by step above.

What is the pinyin of 里?

The pinyin of 里 is "lǐ" (li without tone marks).

How do you write 里 in Chinese?

Write 里 by following the 7-step stroke order animation on this page, then practice with the printable tracing worksheet. Each stroke is numbered and drawn in the standard order used in mainland China.

Keep learning

One character down — here is where to go next:

How to Learn Chinese Characters: The Complete Guide — the full method, from your first sound to 3,000 characters.
Chinese Radicals: 40 Components That Unlock Thousands of Characters — see which building blocks this character uses.
The 9 Stroke Order Rules — why this character is written in exactly this sequence.
Worksheet Generator — print a full practice sheet for any Chinese text.

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