How to write Abundance year after year (Nian Nian You Yu, 年年有余)
Yu (surplus) sounds like the word for fish, which is why a whole fish is served and some is left over. 4 characters, 25 strokes.
Write it in your own hand
The grey guide and the red arrow show where each stroke starts and which way it goes. What you write is kept exactly as you wrote it: nothing is corrected. Go slowly for a thick, wet stroke, quickly for a thin one.
Stroke order, character by character
Year (nián, 年)
6 strokes
123456
- Left-falling (piě, 撇): Down and to the left, lifting the brush as you go
- Horizontal (héng, 横): Left to right, rising very slightly
- Horizontal (héng, 横): Left to right, rising very slightly
- Vertical (shù, 竖): Top to bottom
- Horizontal (héng, 横): Left to right, rising very slightly
- Vertical (shù, 竖): Top to bottom
Year (nián, 年)
6 strokes
123456
- Left-falling (piě, 撇): Down and to the left, lifting the brush as you go
- Horizontal (héng, 横): Left to right, rising very slightly
- Horizontal (héng, 横): Left to right, rising very slightly
- Vertical (shù, 竖): Top to bottom
- Horizontal (héng, 横): Left to right, rising very slightly
- Vertical (shù, 竖): Top to bottom
Have (yǒu, 有)
6 strokes
123456
- Horizontal (héng, 横): Left to right, rising very slightly
- Left-falling (piě, 撇): Down and to the left, lifting the brush as you go
- Vertical (shù, 竖): Top to bottom
- Horizontal-turn-hook (héng zhé gōu, 横折钩): Right, turn down, and end with a hook to the left
- Horizontal (héng, 横): Left to right, rising very slightly
- Horizontal (héng, 横): Left to right, rising very slightly
Surplus (yú, 余)
7 strokes
1234567
- Left-falling (piě, 撇): Down and to the left, lifting the brush as you go
- Right-falling (nà, 捺): Down and to the right, pressing harder, then lift to a point
- Horizontal (héng, 横): Left to right, rising very slightly
- Horizontal (héng, 横): Left to right, rising very slightly
- Vertical hook (shù gōu, 竖钩): Top to bottom, then a small hook up to the left
- Left-falling (piě, 撇): Down and to the left, lifting the brush as you go
- Dot (diǎn, 点): A short press, usually down to the right
More greetings to write
- Happy New Year (Xin Nian Kuai Le, 新年快乐)
- Wishing you prosperity (Gong Xi Fa Cai, 恭喜发财)
- May everything go as you wish (Wan Shi Ru Yi, 万事如意)
- Wishing you good health (Shen Ti Jian Kang, 身体健康)
- May your wishes come true (Xin Xiang Shi Cheng, 心想事成)
- Peace and safety, year after year (Sui Sui Ping An, 岁岁平安)
- Happiness to the whole family (He Jia Xing Fu, 阖家幸福)
- Great luck and great gain (Da Ji Da Li, 大吉大利)
- The vigour of a dragon-horse (Long Ma Jing Shen, 龙马精神)
Stroke shapes and order from Make Me a Hanzi, as packaged by Hanzi Writer, used under the Arphic Public License. Stroke names checked by hand, character by character.