Based on The Outline of Graded Chinese Characters as promulgated by the Examination Section in the Office of the National Committee for Chinese as a Second Language, each of the 1,000 basic characters in the Chinese language is chosen with Chinese beginners in mind. Each character comes with a detailed analysis, including Meaning: equivalent meaning in English with ample bilingual samples; Usage: common collocations and their related idiomatic usage; Pronunciation: tone and pronunciation specific to the usage; Stroke Order: with simplified and traditional forms; Parts of Speech: for each character; and Useful indices and appendices attached for easy reference.