Blog · 2026-10-13 · 6 min read
The 2025 HSK Syllabus has two character lists: characters you must recognise (认读字, 3,088 in total) and a smaller set you must write by hand (书写字, 1,200 in total). Here is every level, counted from the official PDF.
| Level | New reading characters | Reading total | New handwriting characters | Handwriting total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 246 | 246 | 100 (shared Levels 1–2 list) | 100 |
| 2 | 125 | 371 | 100 | |
| 3 | 284 | 655 | 150 | 250 |
| 4 | 441 | 1,096 | 150 | 400 |
| 5 | 431 | 1,527 | 150 | 550 |
| 6 | 413 | 1,940 | 150 | 700 |
| 7–9 | 1,148 | 3,088 | 500 | 1,200 |
Note: some websites still quote 300/600/900… characters. Those round numbers come from the 2021 proficiency standards, not from the 2025 exam syllabus.
You will meet far more characters than you have to write. At Level 3, for example, you should recognise 655 characters but only need to handwrite 250. Spend most of your time reading characters inside words, and practise handwriting only for the writing list.
The writing list starts with 100 characters for Levels 1–2. They are all in our article HSK 3.0 handwriting: the 100 characters, and in the free printable PDF below.
All 100 characters on the official Levels 1–2 writing list in 田字格 grids, with pinyin, English, an example word, trace and practice boxes, plus exam-style gap-fill drills with answers. Free on Gumroad (pay what you want, $0 is fine).
The 2025 syllabus lists 3,088 characters to recognise across all levels and 1,200 characters to write by hand.
655 characters to recognise (246 + 125 + 284) and 250 to write by hand.
The syllabus publishes one combined 100-character list for Levels 1–2. Published sample papers show the writing section starting at Level 2.
Counts come from the official HSK Syllabus (CLEC, published November 2025, in force from July 2026), counted from the PDF. Exam dates are as reported by test centres and third-party guides; confirm with your test centre or chinesetest.cn. ACA Chinese is independent and not affiliated with the test organiser.