32

Why are the stroke orders for 右 and 左 different?

右 starts with the vertical stroke, and 左 starts with the horizontal one.

Nate Glenn
  • 4,009
  • 25
  • 30

3 Answers3

22

It has to do with the stroke order of the part underneath it. For this example, I'll refer to 左 as ナ and エ, and 右 as ナ and ロ. For 左, since the first stroke of the underneath part (the エ) is horizontal, the ナ is started with the horizontal stroke. For 右, since the first stroke of the ロ is vertical, the ナ is also started vertically.

Similarly for 有 and 布. Since 月 and 巾 both start vertically, the ナ also starts vertically. Can't think of anymore off the top of my head where the ナ starts horizontally. But the rule is to look to the first stroke underneath the ナ.

muru
  • 675
  • 7
  • 17
istrasci
  • 43,365
  • 4
  • 104
  • 251
  • Was YOU wrong, then? – Nate Glenn Jun 01 '11 at 02:43
  • I'm not quite sure I understand his post. I don't think he's wrong, but his doesn't really tell you which is **supposed** to be a longer stroker or a shorter stroke. Like I said, if you just look at the bottom part, you can figure it out for any arbitrary kanji of that form. – istrasci Jun 01 '11 at 02:50
  • This looks like a handy way to remember which order I should use for which character, and that I appreciate. But it doesn't answer *why* the order is different. – Garrett Albright Jun 11 '11 at 12:58
  • 1
    @Garrett - Then you looked *way* more into the meaning of the word "why" than I did. – istrasci Jun 12 '11 at 00:39
  • 1
    It would make more sense if you say that, if the lower part starts with a horizontal stroke as in `左`, then the last stroke of the upper part should be vertical to minimize movement (doing vertical, then horizontal requires less movement than repeating horizontal strokes), which means the first stroke is horizontal. Similarly for the other case. –  Jul 07 '11 at 02:20
  • 1
    How does this apply to 雄? The [stroke order](http://jisho.org/search/%E9%9B%84%20%23kanji) starts with a horizontal stroke, but I would consider the third stroke to be vertical. – Paul May 27 '16 at 14:00
9

Left side of those two words are different originally

enter image description here

enter image description here

There is some meaning that shorter stroke mean 手のひら "Palm", longer one is 腕 "arm".

Normally, shorter stroke which mean "手のひら" write first most of the time, so according to original kanji, 右 "Right" need to write a vertical slant stroke first and 左　"Left"　need to write horizonal stroke first.

YOU
  • 8,280
  • 3
  • 35
  • 55
  • Would you expand on this a little? Like more information on the radicals. – Nate Glenn Jun 01 '11 at 03:10
  • @Nate, sorry I missed your comment. There is various theories/rumors out there, so I can't say mine is the only and definitely correct answer. – YOU Jun 05 '11 at 06:43
9

Although the modern characters are very similar, they show a remarkable difference when written in seal script. Since the short stroke representing the hand is drawn first, and the hands are on the corresponding sides of the character, the stroke drawn from the character's meaning to the opposite (e.g. from left to right on 左) is drawn first.

enter image description here

(Yes, I admit it. I lifted this from Tomehane. It's a must read for those interested in calligraphy.)

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
  • 4,989
  • 2
  • 22
  • 29