Figuring Out Cangjie Codes

Generally when figuring out the cangjie code of a character:

• Start at the top if the character can be divided into top and bottom.
• Start at the left if it can be divided into left and right parts.
• Start on the outside (and move inwards) if the character is an enclosure.
• Start at the top left if the character can’t be divided in any of the previous ways.

Characters that can be Divided into Right and Left Parts

If the character has a left and right part, then you look at the top of the left part.

So for example, 明 (bright), you’d look at the element on the left, which is a sun. And so you know that the code for this character begins with an a. And since the part on the right is a moon, the code ends with b.

明ab or 日月

For the character 膝 (knee), the part on the left looks like a moon, hence the first element in its code is b.

膝 bdoe or 月木人水

For the character 貓 (cat) the top of the left most part is a sort of moon shape. And so the code for this character begins with b.

貓 bhtw or 月竹廿田

Characters that Can Be Divided into Top and Bottom Parts

If the character has a top and bottom part then you start at the left hand side of the top part, or you look at the top part as a whole.

For example, the character 軍 (army, military) has a top part which looks like the moon shape but with the two horizontal bars removed. (冖). And so the cangjie code for this character begins with b.

軍 bjwj or 月十田十

Dividing Top and Left into One Element or Two

In general, when looking at the left most part of a character or the top most part of a character, it will be broken down into either one element or in some cases two.

The top part of the character 單can be broken into two elements and so the top part can be represented by rr.

單 rrwj or 口口田十.

The left part of cat, 貓 also has two elements, “b” for the top part and “h” for the bottom part and so the left most part of this character is represented by the code bh.

貓 bhtw or 月竹廿田.

Enclosure and Solid Type Characters

For enclosed characters you start at the outside and work inwards.

So for example, 四, (four), you start on the outside with the code for field 田 which is w. Then you move to the inside two legs, 金 which is c.

四 wc or 田金

Or for 因 (cause, reason): W (田) for the outside part and (大) for the inside part.

因 wk or 因

Unbroken Characters

For solid characters start off at the top.

As an example 止 (stop) has the code ylm. In this case the 卜 element is taller than the 丨element and so it is the first element in the cangjie code for this character.

止 ylm or 卜中一