[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":151},["ShallowReactive",2],{"symbols:chinese-numbers":3},{"id":4,"locale":5,"section":6,"slug":7,"title":8,"seoTitle":9,"seoDescription":10,"eyebrow":11,"searchAliases":12,"summary":18,"quickAnswer":19,"introduction":23,"sections":24,"faq":96,"relatedIds":109,"referenceLinks":112,"sources":122,"reviewedAt":127,"reviewStatus":137,"accent":142,"symbolFacets":143,"visualTreatment":150},"symbol-chinese-numbers","en","symbols","chinese-numbers","Chinese numbers: one to ten, zero and larger values","Chinese Number Symbols 1–10: Characters, Pinyin & Examples","Read Chinese numbers from 一 to 十, understand zero and place value, and distinguish ordinary numerals, accounting forms and historical counting rods.","Counting and reading",[13,14,15,16,17],"number symbols in Chinese","Chinese symbols numbers 1 10","ancient Chinese number symbols","Chinese numerals","Chinese numbers chart","A practical chart for reading Chinese numerals, with examples showing how eleven, twenty, hundreds and dates are written.",{"heading":20,"text":21,"context":22},"What are the Chinese number symbols from 1 to 10?","They are 一、二、三、四、五、六、七、八、九、十: yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù, qī, bā, jiǔ and shí. Larger values combine digits with units; twenty is 二十 and twenty-one is 二十一.","Read a number’s context: a date, a price, a phone number and a historical calculation are different kinds of notation.","Chinese number characters are useful far beyond a symbolic poster. They occur in dates, lesson numbers, inscriptions and written amounts. Learn the values first, then the combination rule. An interpretation about a number’s cultural associations should come after you have established which number the text actually records.",[25,76,81,86,91],{"heading":26,"paragraphs":27,"referenceTable":29},"Read one to ten in order",[28],"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.",{"caption":30,"columns":31,"rows":35},"Chinese numbers 1–10",[32,33,34],"Value","Character","Mandarin pinyin",[36,40,44,48,52,56,60,64,68,72],[37,38,39],"1","一","yī",[41,42,43],"2","二","èr",[45,46,47],"3","三","sān",[49,50,51],"4","四","sì",[53,54,55],"5","五","wǔ",[57,58,59],"6","六","liù",[61,62,63],"7","七","qī",[65,66,67],"8","八","bā",[69,70,71],"9","九","jiǔ",[73,74,75],"10","十","shí",{"heading":77,"paragraphs":78},"Combine digits with tens, hundreds and thousands",[79,80],"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 \u002F 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 \u002F 兩.",{"heading":82,"paragraphs":83},"Zero, dates and digit-by-digit readings",[84,85],"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.",{"heading":87,"paragraphs":88},"Ordinary numerals and formal accounting forms",[89,90],"Financial documents can use more complex written forms to make alteration less straightforward. For example, 贰 \u002F 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.",{"heading":92,"paragraphs":93},"Historical number marks are another layer",[94,95],"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.",[97,101,105],{"name":98,"acceptedAnswer":99},"How do you write 11 and 20?",{"text":100},"十一 is eleven; 二十 is twenty. 二十一 is twenty-one. These examples combine ten with ordinary digits rather than requiring a new symbol for each value.",{"name":102,"acceptedAnswer":103},"Is 〇 the letter O?",{"text":104},"No. In this context it is an ideographic zero. 零 is another zero form. Do not replace either automatically with an alphabetic letter when transcribing a number.",{"name":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"Does a Chinese number tell me a date is lunar?",{"text":108},"No. The calendar name and context determine that. Identical month and day numbers can refer to different Gregorian and lunar dates.",[110,111],"symbol-yin-yang","tradition-heavenly-stems",[113,116,119],{"label":114,"path":115},"Read a Chinese lunar date","\u002Fcalendar\u002Freading-a-chinese-lunar-date",{"label":117,"path":118},"Understand yuan and currency signs","\u002Fsymbols\u002Fchinese-yuan-symbol",{"label":120,"path":121},"Read characters and their meanings","\u002Fsymbols\u002Fchinese-characters-and-meanings",[123,128,131,134],{"label":124,"url":125,"publisher":126,"accessedAt":127},"Unicode 17.0 Unihan character data: readings, meanings and numeric properties","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.unicode.org\u002FPublic\u002F17.0.0\u002Fucd\u002FUnihan.zip","Unicode Consortium","2026-10-27",{"label":129,"url":130,"publisher":126,"accessedAt":127},"Unicode Han Database: how to interpret definitions, readings and variants","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.unicode.org\u002Freports\u002Ftr38\u002Ftr38-39.html",{"label":132,"url":133,"publisher":126,"accessedAt":127},"Ideographic zero: CJK Symbols and Punctuation code chart","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.unicode.org\u002Fcharts\u002FPDF\u002FU3000.pdf",{"label":135,"url":136,"publisher":126,"accessedAt":127},"Counting Rod Numerals: Unicode code chart","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.unicode.org\u002Fcharts\u002FPDF\u002FU1D360.pdf",{"preparedAt":127,"sourceCheckedAt":127,"timeZone":138,"humanReview":139},"Asia\u002FSingapore",{"status":140,"reviewer":141,"approvedAt":141},"pending",null,"ink",{"themes":144,"media":146,"contexts":148},[145],"writing-and-reference",[147],"writing-and-paper",[149],"modern-design-and-gifts","text-reference",1793071021824]