Stroke Order of This Kanji: 用


When I write this kanji radical, how do I know when I should write the
horizontal lines inside the outer part first or write them after? This radical
is in many kanji, and I am trying to find a pattern so I can remember the
correct order. For example, the stroke order in all these kanji are different:

用 (horizontal lines first)

角 (vertical line first)

通 (horizontal lines first)

What is the general pattern if it was put into words? Is it that if the
vertical line is longer, then the horizontal line's are first, and vice versa
otherwise? Also, how do I know when to make the vertical line go past the
horizontal ones? Is this kanji: 角 the only kanji without a long vertical line
out of all the kanji that have this radical?




小学校で、

真ん中の縦棒が下に突き出るときは、縦棒が後  
eg 用、申、甲、羊、中、十

[![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/KDias.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/KDias.png)

真ん中の縦棒が下に突き出ないときは、横棒が後  
eg 田・由・角・曲（縦横横）  
王・玉、青・美の上（横縦横横の順）

[![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9uvzt.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9uvzt.png)

と習った記憶があります。




Short answer, while you can find patterns that apply most of the times when it
comes to stroke order, **for these nuances and little perks you just have to
know them by rote.**

There is hardly any reason why a storied order is so and so. The reason strike
order exists is for good penmanship, to allow you write a character
beautifully or, when you write fast and cursive, it remains intelligible. That
said, stroke order is nothing more than a convention established because most
people at a place at a certain time period write this way. Which means, there
is no absolute correct stroke order and it can vary with time and place.

Example: 田 when writing the inner cross, in China you write the horizontal
line first, but in Japan you write the vertical first.

必 is a bit more complicated, but basically in Japan the last stroke is the
right dot, in China the last stroke is the leftward slash, but in ancient
China, since this character is composed of 八 and 弋, you’d write it in the
order you write these two characters. Taiwan, as I’ve heard, writes this
character different from all three ways mentioned above.

Which stroke order is right? Which is wrong? Neither. So why the horizontal
for 用 first and vertical for 角 first? Because such is the convention of modern
Japan. Could be different in China, could be different in Taiwan, could be
different 100 years later/ago.

