Characters · 8 strokes
明
míng bright
Where the shape comes from
The sun and the moon side by side. The two brightest things in the sky make bright.
日sun
月moon
Write it
Watch the order first, then trace it with the guide, then write it from memory. The model comes back over your strokes so you can see where the shape drifted.
Press Watch to see the stroke order.
Stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi via Hanzi Writer, Arphic Public License.
Three words that use it
明天
míngtiān
tomorrow
聪明
cōngming
clever
明白
míngbai
to understand
Watch out: the mistake people make
Making the two halves the same width. 日 is narrower, and 月 takes more of the space.