Chinese numbers: one to ten, zero and larger values

Read one to ten in order

The table uses ordinary modern number characters and single-character Mandarin readings. The readings are dictionary forms: spoken tone changes and connected speech are separate pronunciation questions. Values and readings were checked against Unicode’s Unihan numeric and reading properties.

Combine digits with tens, hundreds and thousands

For the examples here, the character before a unit tells you how many of that unit you have. 二十 is two tens, or twenty; 三十 is thirty. 二十一 adds one after twenty, and 九十九 is ninety-nine. 十一 is eleven: one ten followed by one. Reading these examples as whole numbers is more useful than memorizing a separate drawing for every possible value.

百 (bǎi) is hundred and 千 (qiān) is thousand. 一百 is one hundred and 一千 is one thousand. 万 / 萬 (wàn) represents ten thousand, an important grouping when numbers get larger. This introduction gives reading examples rather than a complete grammar of counting, measure words or all the spoken choices between 二 and 两 / 兩.

Zero, dates and digit-by-digit readings

零 (líng) represents zero. The round form 〇 is also used in number writing, including digit sequences; it is not the Latin letter O. In ordinary numeric composition, 一百零一 is 101: the zero signals the absent tens position. In a year written digit by digit, 二〇二六 represents 2026 rather than a new compound value.

A phone number, room number or product code may be read digit by digit instead of as a single quantity. A date adds units such as 年, year, 月, month, and 日, day. Knowing the number characters does not tell you which calendar is in use: a lunar date and a Gregorian date can use the same characters while referring to different days. Follow our lunar-date reading guide for that additional distinction.

Ordinary numerals and formal accounting forms

Financial documents can use more complex written forms to make alteration less straightforward. For example, 贰 / 貳 is an accounting form for two. The existence of these forms does not mean the ordinary character 二 is wrong in a date or classroom exercise. Match the notation to the document rather than replacing every ordinary numeral with its financial counterpart.

The table above intentionally teaches the ordinary sequence. When reading a cheque, receipt or historic account, retain currency units, decimal information and all the written characters before interpreting an amount. A partial photograph can omit the unit or a vital final digit. Our currency guide explains yuan notation separately; this page does not validate documents or give exchange rates.

Historical number marks are another layer

Ancient and later Chinese mathematical practices also used counting rods and forms of numerical notation that differ from the printed character sequence. Unicode encodes counting-rod numeral signs in a separate block. That is a useful reminder that “ancient Chinese numbers” does not name one unchanging font or a single decorative alphabet.

Do not assign a date to an inscription merely because its numerals look unfamiliar. Ask whether you are seeing handwriting, a formal accounting form, a catalogue transcription or a diagram of a calculation. For an historical object, use its collection record and specialist explanation. For a modern beginner’s reading task, return to the one-to-ten values and check each example step by step.