Buzz
Chinese characters consist of strokes. To master writing them, one must not only know where each stroke is placed, but also the correct sequence in which they should be written and the direction for each stroke (left to right, top to bottom, etc.). The simplest character is yī (one), consisting of just a single stroke from left to right. On the other hand, the most complex character, biáng (above), comprises 57 strokes.
This character is used in biángbiáng miàn, a dish of wide, flat noodles that is popular in the Shaanxi province of China.
The claim of biáng being the most intricate character comes with some nuance. It does not appear in official dictionaries, and its creation seems to be a bit playful: biáng is not a Standard Mandarin syllable but an onomatopoeic sound representing either the noise of noodles slapping on the table during preparation, or the satisfied sound of someone eating them. There are various theories about its origin, but the most credible one is that it was invented by the owner of a noodle shop.
If rare or seldom-used characters are considered, one could argue that zhé, an obsolete character with 64 strokes, fits the bill. It fittingly means 'verbose.'
Wikimedia Commons/Erin McCarthy
This character, however, is simply the character for long or 'dragon,' written four times. Biáng contains elements from the characters for speak, horse, grow, moon, heart, knife, eight, roof, and walk, along with several extra strokes. While it may have fewer strokes, its complexity far exceeds that of simpler characters.
When it comes to characters found in modern dictionaries, the most complex seems to be nàng, a 36-stroke character that represents the sound made when your voice is muffled from a stuffy nose.
Wikimedia Commons/Erin McCarthy
Biáng, however, truly deserves recognition for its complexity. While it is an unconventional Chinese character, one could argue that it is the most 'Chinese' of all Chinese characters. As expert Sinologist Victor Mair mentions in this post at Language Log, 'For me, biáng represents the challenge of reconciling the rich diversity of folk, popular, and regional cultures and languages within the confines of the standard writing system, which upholds the elite, high culture, and now also the bourgeois, urban, national culture. In other words, biáng nearly overflows the boundaries of the scriptal and phonetic constraints it is subjected to.'
Biáng. A beloved regional dish, presented with a playful nod to a 5000-year-old writing tradition. A lip-smacking, calligraphic delight.
