早 (zǎo) Chinese Character: early; morning

Chinese character story: When the Sun Has Just Risen

早 (zǎo) means “early” and appears in the common morning word 早上. Picture the first sunlight entering your room before the day becomes busy. The sun clue at the top helps you remember the time of day, while the full character must be learned as one historical form. Use 早 to describe an early action: 来得早 means “come early,” and 起得早 means “get up early.” Use 早上 before an action to say that it happens in the morning. 早上好 is the standard beginner greeting “Good morning.” The third tone in zǎo falls and then rises when spoken alone. In normal speech, its exact shape may change beside another third tone, but the written tone mark remains the same.

Chinese character origin and etymology

早 has long been associated with the beginning of the day. Traditional graphic explanations place the sun above an early lower form and connect the whole character with dawn or morning. The lower element changed through script history, so it is safer to learn the documented morning meaning than to invent a detailed picture from the modern strokes.

早 places 日, “sun,” above a lower 十-like form. Write the sun box first, then finish with the centered horizontal and vertical strokes below. 早 works as one complete form rather than a puzzle made from smaller modern components. Learning its overall silhouette is useful because the same shape may later appear inside more complex characters.

Chinese character stroke order and structure

早 is written with 6 strokes. Learn the complete stroke sequence in the interactive lesson, then write the character from memory before checking your answer.

• 日 — The sun helps you connect 早 with morning. Learn the lower strokes as part of the complete character, not as a separate word.

Common usage and sentence patterns

The examples below show 早 in complete beginner-friendly sentences. Read each sentence aloud, notice where the character appears, and then replace one noun or number to create a new sentence of your own.

Learning tips for 早

Learn the reading as one unit: zǎo, with the third tone: falling then rising. Avoid memorizing the letters without the tone mark. Say the syllable, recall the English meaning “early; morning,” and write the 6 strokes from memory.

Because 早 is a basic form, focus on its proportions and stroke direction. Compare it with 日 (rì, sun; day); 晚 (wǎn, evening; late); 上 (shàng, up; above). Similar characters are easier to remember when their different parts and meanings are studied side by side.

Quick review checklist

• Can you recognize 早 without pinyin?
• Can you say zǎo with the correct tone and explain “early; morning”?
• Can you write all 6 strokes in order?
• Can you use 早 in one short sentence?

Related characters

• 日 (rì) — sun; day
• 晚 (wǎn) — evening; late
• 上 (shàng) — up; above

Continue learning Chinese characters

Use the Chinese radicals and components guide to understand reusable parts, the stroke order guide to improve handwriting, and the HSK 1 character overview to choose your next beginner lesson.

Sources and editorial note

HanziStory separates documented character history from modern memory stories. Historical-form images are shown only when a matching source file is available; missing stages are skipped rather than invented. Stroke practice uses HanziWriter data.

Last updated: August 12, 2026. Read our sources, editorial method, and correction policy.