Stroke count method


The Stroke Count Method, Wubihua method, Stroke input method or Bihua IME is a relatively simple Chinese input method for writing text on a computer or a mobile phone. It is based on the stroke order 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 Traditional Chinese characters with this method, this method is often associated with Simplified Chinese characters. The Wubihua method should not be confused with the Wubi method.
Each of the five keys from 1 to 5 are assigned a certain type of stroke :
  1. A horizontal stroke from left to right
  2. A vertical stroke from top to bottom
  3. A long diagonal stroke downward from right to left
  4. A very short dash stroke downward from left to right
  5. A horizontal stroke from left to right, ending with a downwards hook to the left
To input any character, the user simply presses the keys corresponding to the first four strokes of a character and the key corresponding to the last stroke of a character. The user presses * or 0 after the last stroke for characters with four strokes or less. Some Wubihua systems have a match option that the user presses to indicate the code is complete. Some systems take more than 4 strokes.
The user must 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 pinyin. In fact, as pinyin is based upon Mandarin Chinese, many Chinese people - particularly in the southern regions of China like Hong Kong and Macau - who speak other varieties of Chinese and never learned pinyin relied solely on this method of entering characters on their phones, until touchscreen-based Smartphones allowed the possibility of Handwriting recognition.
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.
Strokes map to Wubihua input generally according to the following table:
Wubihua CharacterStroke TypeStrokeExamples
1Horizontal, or Rising横 Héng
1Horizontal, or Rising提 Tí
2Vertical竖 Shù
2Vertical竖钩 Shù Gōu
3Falling to the Left撇 Piě
4Dot, or Falling to the Right点 Diǎn
4Dot, or Falling to the Right捺 Nà
4Dot, or Falling to the Right提捺 Tí Nà
5Turning横折 Héng Zhé
5Turning横撇 Héng Piě
5Turning横钩 Héng Gōu
5Turning竖折 Shù Zhé
5Turning竖弯 Shù Wān
5Turning竖提 Shù Tí
5Turning撇折 Piě Zhé
5Turning撇点 Piě Diǎn
5Turning撇钩 Piě Gōu
5Turning弯钩 Wān Gōu
5Turning斜钩 Xié Gōu
5Turning横折折 Héng Zhé Zhé
5Turning横折弯 Héng Zhé Wān
5Turning横折提 Héng Zhé Tí
5Turning横折钩 Héng Zhé Gōu
5Turning横斜钩 Héng Xié Gōu
5Turning竖折折 Shù Zhé Zhé
5Turning竖折撇 Shù Zhé Piě
5Turning竖弯钩 Shù Wān Gōu
5Turning横折折折 Héng Zhé Zhé Zhé
5Turning横折折撇 Héng Zhé Zhé Piě
5Turning横折弯钩 Héng Zhé Wān Gōu
5Turning横撇弯钩 Héng Piě Wān Gōu
5Turning竖折折钩 Shù Zhé Zhé Gōu
5Turning横折折折钩 Héng Zhé Zhé Zhé Gōu