When characters are made up of two or more alphabets and/or strokes, they can be combined by using the 7 Part Order Rules:
Standard Part Order of Chinese Characters
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/dcc60d_122399a5242d4941b507e4da319605e2~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_400,h_404,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/dcc60d_122399a5242d4941b507e4da319605e2~mv2.jpg)
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Rule 1
Top to Bottom (T2B)
Left to Right (L2R)
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Rule2
Combi (Combinations of T2B and L2R)
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Rule 3
Middle before Sides (M4S)
Sides before Middle (S4M)
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Rule 4
Outside before Inside (O4I)
Inside before Outside (I4O)
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Rule 5
Outside-Inside-Outside (OIO)
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Rule 6
Flag Pole First (FPF)
Flag Pole Last (FPL)
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Rule 7
Dot Pole First (DOF)
Dot Pole Last (DOL)
Read more about the structures of Chinese characters
Learn what the Standard Part Order of Chinese characters. There are 7 Standard Part Order Rules.
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BLOG ARTICLES:
7 Part Order Rules
What about characters with parts that are overlapping one another? Do they follow the Standard Part Order Rules? Read more in ‘Intersecting Part Order'.