How to Write 东 (dōng) — Meaning “East”

Imagine the top horizontal line as the horizon, the vertical line as a tree trunk, the middle horizontal as a branch, and the left-falling stroke as a sunbeam pointing east. Think: 'The sun rises in the east behind a tree' — the shape visually suggests this scene.

Stroke order is: horizontal, horizontal, vertical, horizontal, left-falling. Keep the first two horizontals parallel and evenly spaced, the vertical centered, the fourth horizontal short, and the last left-falling stroke slanted gently left. A common mistake is making the left-falling stroke too long or writing it as a right-falling stroke.

东 has 5 strokes and means 'east', while 万 (wàn) means 'ten thousand' and has 3 strokes (horizontal, hook, left-falling) with a distinct hook. 丈 (zhàng) means 'ten feet' and has 3 strokes (horizontal, vertical, right-falling) ending with a downward-right stroke. Visually, 东 is more complex and balanced, while the others are simpler and asymmetric.

东 indicates the direction 'east', as in 东北 (northeast). It is also part of common words like 东西 (dōng xi, 'thing' or 'stuff'), which literally means 'east-west' and refers to any object. Culturally, 东方 means 'the East' or 'Orient', and China is often called 东方大国 (great eastern nation).

Common words containing 东 include: 东西 (dōng xī) — Thing / Stuff; 东方 (dōng fāng) — The East / Orient; 东北 (dōng běi) — Northeast.