Chinese Stories
Read 4 A0 History Chinese stories with learner-friendly audio, images, vocabulary, and comprehension practice.
Each of these 4 stories is written at the A0 level around history themes, so you build vocabulary in context while reading Chinese you can actually understand. Read once for the gist, then tap any unfamiliar word for an instant translation. Most stories here include native-speaker audio narration — read first, then listen again to connect spelling with pronunciation.

The 'Ren Zi' Curve on Zhan Tianyou's Blueprint
An engineer named Zhan Tianyou finds a clever way to build a railway through a tall mountain.

岳飞背上刺的那四个字
A story about a brave man named Yue Fei and the meaning of the words his mother tattooed on his back.

唐朝公主种下的那棵石榴树
A princess in the Tang Dynasty plants a pomegranate tree and cares for it as it grows over time.

The Dish the Emperor Left Over
An emperor shares his leftover food with a hungry boy, leading to a happy day for everyone.
History stories at other levels
Right topic, wrong difficulty? Read the same theme one level up or down.
How to read A0 History stories
At A0 you are reading your very first Chinese sentences. Do not worry about grammar yet — focus on recognizing words you have seen before and matching the pictures to the text. Short daily reading sessions beat long occasional ones.
Read each story twice: once for the main idea without stopping, then again while tapping the highlighted vocabulary. Finish with the comprehension quiz — if you get most answers right, you are reading at the right level. When a story starts to feel easy, move up a level using the links above.