Research on teaching of Chinese characters has seen a relatively late start in international Chinese language education. Since there is little experience in teaching handwritten characters in previous Chinese as a foreign language instruction, the theory and practice of Chinese character teaching for non-native speakers have developed gradually. The latest Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education list the Handwritten Chinese Character List as a separate item, strengthening the guiding position of the separation of character recognition and writing principle in teaching Chinese characters. It also allows us to re-examine the issue of handwritten instruction in teaching Chinese characters to those learning Chinese as a foreign language. This paper examines issues in Chinese character teaching based on the theory of Chinese character formation, focusing on three levels of mastery: whole character, component, and stroke. The component teaching method has gained a high level of attention in recent pedagogical circles, and this method offers both advantages and disadvantages. Stroke instruction, often overlooked, is also essential for mastering handwritten Chinese characters. Stroke instruction goes beyond merely practicing basic strokes and their order and emphasizes understanding of the logic behind stroke writing.

This article delves into the development of Japanese Chinese character variations, and how they fit into the broader study of Chinese characters. By examining the differences between early Japanese kanji and modern Japanese writing systems, as well as the varying approaches of Chinese and Japanese scholars in studying Japanese kanji, we can propose a more fitting classification and naming method better suited to studying Chinese characters. To that end, we take the Wamyō Ruiju Shō (倭名類聚抄) as an example, exhaustively sorting out the situation of variant characters in the manuscript across different eras, and referring to other ancient Chinese dictionaries from the same period. This article introduces concepts like “inherited variants” and “Japan saved variants” to make studying these characters more comprehensive.