Learn to type Chinese through character shapes. Meet the Cangjie roots, follow simple decompositions, and practise full codes at your own pace.
Cangjie (倉頡) finds Chinese characters from their written shapes. You learn a small set of root keys, recognize their related forms and combine them into a code.
You can type a character without knowing its pronunciation. Start with clear shapes such as 明, then learn how the same roots appear inside other characters.
Explore the root chartLook left, then right.
Type ab and choose 明.
Learn a few useful examples before trying to memorize the whole keyboard.
Find the 24 roots and the special X key. Search by letter, root or example.
Take this step 02木 + 木See how simple left–right, top–bottom and enclosed shapes become codes.
Take this step 03明 ABEnter a code, choose the character you mean and continue in the editor.
Take this step 04好 VNDPractise root keys and complete codes, with a hint when you need one.
Take this stepCangjie describes shape. Zhuyin and Pinyin describe Mandarin pronunciation; Jyutping describes Cantonese pronunciation. You can use Cangjie while studying either language.
Root names are memory labels for shape families. The water form 氵 uses the 水 key E, even though the narrow form looks different from the complete character 水.
These lessons teach input codes. They do not replace learning meanings, pronunciation or handwriting.
The site's dictionary combines Unihan Cangjie codes with existing compatibility entries. It does not claim to be a complete implementation of one numbered edition. Examples here have been checked against the site's data. A course or another keyboard can use different codes for some characters.
Knowing character structure helps, but Cangjie does not ask you to type a key for every pen stroke. Roots, related forms, grouping and omission rules determine the code. Begin with the simple decompositions, then study unfamiliar forms deliberately.
Yes. The Cangjie keyboard also includes Quick aliases based on the first and last letters of a full code. Shorter input can produce more candidates, so check the character carefully.
Compare full codes and Quick →Not necessarily. Glyph forms, coding editions and compatibility entries can differ. Even a full code may match more than one character. The learning examples provide a checked code for the displayed character; the keyboard is the place to inspect the available candidates.
Reference checks: Hong Kong Education Bureau · input methods, Chu Bong-Foo's Cangjie handbook and Unicode · Cangjie codes. Lessons and diagrams are original i2Bopomo material; example codes are checked against this site's dictionary.