The most important Chinese characters sorted by themes in one book: Tailored to the needs of beginners, over 170 characters are presented with radicals, stroke order, and stroke direction, and practiced in written forms. Each thematic group is preceded by a table that clearly summarizes the German meaning, pronunciation in Pinyin, traditional character, radical, as well as the structure and composition of the characters. The selection of characters is based on the list of the new HSK 1. To facilitate further use of the book for preparation for the new HSK exam, important vocabulary and usages of the characters are compiled at the end of each thematic group. Forms are also provided for practice. In the appendix of the book, all characters and vocabulary are organized by meaning, word types, and alphabetically.