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Stroke count method
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<p>The Stroke Count Method (<a href="/facts/Simplified_Chinese_characters/UcAD6xXs">Chinese</a>: 笔画; <a href="/facts/Pinyin/pUwjfMXg">pinyin</a>: <i>bǐ huà</i>), <i>Wubihua method</i>, <i>Stroke input method</i> or <i>Bihua IME</i> (<a href="/facts/Simplified_Chinese_characters/UcAD6xXs">Chinese</a>: 五笔画输入法; <a href="/facts/Pinyin/pUwjfMXg">pinyin</a>: <i>wǔ bǐhuà shūrù fǎ</i> or <a href="/facts/Traditional_Chinese_characters/bBFLkuz7">Chinese</a>: 筆劃輸入法; <a href="/facts/Pinyin/pUwjfMXg">pinyin</a>: <i>Bǐhuà shūrù fǎ</i>) (lit. <i>5-stroke input method</i>) is a relatively simple <a href="/facts/Chinese_input_methods_for_computers/6X5QCHbA">Chinese input method</a> for writing text on a computer or a mobile phone. It is based on the <a href="/facts/Stroke_order/rDv9lMGo">stroke order</a> of a word, not pronunciation. It uses five or six buttons, and is often placed on a numerical keypad. Although it is possible to input <a href="/facts/Traditional_Chinese_characters/bBFLkuz7">Traditional Chinese characters</a> with this method, this method is often associated with <a href="/facts/Simplified_Chinese_characters/UcAD6xXs">Simplified Chinese characters</a>. The Wubihua method should not be confused with the <a href="/facts/Wubi_method/zCD9spUQ">Wubi method</a>. </p><p>Each of the five keys from 1 to 5 are assigned a certain type of stroke (resembling the <a href="/facts/Eight_Principles_of_Yong/l47le31e">Eight Principles of Yong</a>; these five are sometimes called 橫竖撇捺折 (<i>héng-shù-piē-nà-zhé</i>) with each character of this phrase being a one-syllable description of the respective five strokes: </p> <ol><li>A horizontal stroke from left to right (一)</li> <li>A vertical stroke from top to bottom (丨)</li> <li>A long diagonal stroke downward from right to left (丿)</li> <li>A very short dash stroke downward from left to right (丶)</li> <li>A horizontal stroke from left to right, ending with a downwards hook to the left (乙)</li></ol> <p>To input any character, the user simply presses the keys corresponding to the strokes of a character then select from a list of matching characters. The list of suggestions to choose from becomes more and more specific as more digits of the code are entered. The system will not recognize a character input with an incorrect stroke order. Some people find this method of entering characters into a mobile phone to be faster than <a href="/facts/Pinyin/pUwjfMXg">pinyin</a>. In fact, as pinyin is based upon <a href="/facts/Mandarin_Chinese/yxvDg67C">Mandarin Chinese</a>, many Chinese people – particularly in the southern regions of China like Hong Kong and <a href="/facts/Macau/KEm5w6xH">Macau</a> – who speak other varieties of Chinese and never learned pinyin relied solely on this method of entering characters on their phones, until touchscreen-based <a href="/facts/Smartphone/cSIrBMWG">smartphones</a> allowed the possibility of <a href="/facts/Handwriting_recognition/RgdyWtDQ">handwriting recognition</a>. </p><p>Wubihua is one of the easiest to learn methods because it is simple and does not require knowledge of pronunciation or pinyin. However, it tends to be vague, as a Wubihua code will normally match ten characters, and each character has one correct code, which confuses users whose stroke orders are wrong. </p><p>Strokes map to Wubihua input generally according to the following table: </p> <table><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Wubihua Character</th><th scope="col">Stroke Type</th><th scope="col">Stroke</th><th scope="col">Name of stroke(<a href="/facts/Simplified_Chinese/UcAD6xXs">simplified Chinese</a> and <a href="/facts/Pinyin/pUwjfMXg">pinyin</a>)</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" rowspan="2">1</th><td rowspan="2">Horizontal, or Rising</td><td> </td><td>横 <i> Héng</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>提 <i>Tí</i></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" rowspan="2">2</th><td rowspan="2">Vertical</td><td> </td><td>竖 <i>Shù</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>竖钩 <i>Shù Gōu</i></td></tr><tr><th scope="row">3</th><td>Falling to the Left</td><td> </td><td>撇 <i>Piě</i></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" rowspan="3">4</th><td rowspan="3">Dot, or Falling to the Right</td><td> </td><td>点 <i>Diǎn</i></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>捺 <i>Nà</i></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>提捺 <i>Tí Nà</i></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" rowspan="25">5</th><td rowspan="25">Turning</td><td></td><td>横折 <i>Héng Zhé</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>横撇 <i>Héng Piě</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>横钩 <i>Héng Gōu</i></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>竖折 <i>Shù Zhé</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>竖弯 <i>Shù Wān</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>竖提 <i>Shù Tí</i></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>撇折 <i>Piě Zhé</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>撇点 <i>Piě Diǎn</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>撇钩 <i>Piě Gōu</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>弯钩 <i>Wān Gōu</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>斜钩 <i>Xié Gōu</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>横折折 <i>Héng Zhé Zhé</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>横折弯 <i>Héng Zhé Wān</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>横折提 <i>Héng Zhé Tí</i></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>横折钩 <i>Héng Zhé Gōu</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>横斜钩 <i>Héng Xié Gōu</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>竖折折 <i>Shù Zhé Zhé</i></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>竖折撇 <i>Shù Zhé Piě</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>竖弯钩 <i>Shù Wān Gōu</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>横折折折 <i>Héng Zhé Zhé Zhé</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>横折折撇 <i>Héng Zhé Zhé Piě</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>横折弯钩 <i>Héng Zhé Wān Gōu</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>横撇弯钩 <i>Héng Piě Wān Gōu</i></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td>竖折折钩 <i>Shù Zhé Zhé Gōu</i></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>横折折折钩 <i>Héng Zhé Zhé Zhé Gōu</i></td></tr></tbody></table>