<p>In a way, that's true, see Wikipedia <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biangbiang_noodles" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Biangbiang noodles</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Both the traditional and simplified Chinese characters for biáng were encoded in Unicode, on March 20, 2020, for Unicode 13.0.0. The code point is U+30EDE for the traditional form () and U+30EDD for the simplified form ().</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some might call this character out for being 'invented' or 'made up', but then all of writing has been invented at some point in time. The character is mainly used in a small region for a very specific product, but then there are quite a few characters that only occur e.g. in a single place name which doesn't keep them from being regarded characters.</p>
<p>But keep in mind that people can, have, and will create new characters for the fun of it, e.g. there is <a href="https://shokaki.hatenablog.jp/entry/2018/12/30/234936" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this famous character with 108 strokes</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-30T11:52:47.423Z
However, you would certainly not use the character composition of _biáng_ to prepare _biángbiáng miàn_!
Michaelyus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-30T12:21:30.333Z
not sure you're joking?
John Frazer
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-30T13:21:52.140Z
Only semi-jokingly, in reference to that part of the OP's question. Horse meat and heart are not considered standard additions to _biángbiáng miàn_, but they are part of its character composition. Additionally, the character lacks wheat/noodle components, and even omits water (essential for good gluten development!).
Michaelyus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-30T17:21:43.350Z
@Michaelyus I would also be very wary of adding silk, the Moon or caves to my biangbiang noodles. [Okay, the Moon may be meat, but that doesn’t work so well for comedic effect.]
Janus Bahs Jacquet
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-30T18:00:34.670Z
You surely can stack up Chinese letters to make an artistic symbol, but a symbol is not an invented word that has meanings and proper uses. The same is true for all languages.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-06-02T17:42:31.290Z
@Michaelyus I just love the idea of composing names of dishes based on the ingredients! Do you know if anyone has actually done that? I mean, it becomes a bit messy (messier) if the ingredients are not simple components, but I still love the idea. You could also use relative size to indicate proportions. If you have twice as much water as flour, you make the 水 twice as big as the 面! If you have three eggs, include three 蛋 and so on.
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-30T11:29:22.203Z
2023-05-30T11:35:05.540Z
John Frazer
<p>Several years ago, I worked for a firm where I needed to show Chinese characters, and apparently the more complex ones were not clearly displayed. While solving that problem, I needed a test character and a Chinese colleague proposed me some Chinese character, being composed of 53 or 54 strokes, meaning &quot;noodle soup&quot;, she claimed that character was the most complex one and contained the recipe of the meal.</p>
<p>Yesterday, I asked ChatGPT about other complex Chinese characters, and this is a part of the conversation:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My question: The most elaborated character in Chinese language is the character for noodle soup: the character is the recipe of the meal. Are there other examples of Chinese characters, which involve an entire story?</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>ChatGPT's answer: (...) <em>the claim that the character for noodle soup is the most elaborated character in the Chinese language, representing the entire recipe of the meal, is a common myth or misconception.</em> (...)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don't work for that firm anymore, so I have no way to verify this.</p>
<p>Does anybody know if ChatGPT is correct: one of my funniest workplace memories is based on a myth or a misconception? Or is ChatGPT plain wrong?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-30T13:20:34.090Z
There is indeed – there is a dedicated [chinese.se] site where this would be a better fit. For the record: although the _biáng_ character is the most complex one you’re likely to find in the wild, there are others with higher stroke counts, even excluding modern inventions like the Japanese one linked to in John’s answer. Many of them are quite obscure, though, and it’s not certain exactly what they mean; [](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/) _zhèng_ is said to mean ‘flourish’, but its attestation is _extremely_ scant, and [](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/) supposedly means ‘talkative’.
Janus Bahs Jacquet
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-30T18:15:15.343Z
This is one invented English word: "**YouCanMakeUpAnEnglishWordByTypingEntireBookWithoutSpaces**".
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-31T03:27:14.890Z
Not meaning to be unwelcoming here, but we've had this question a few times already.  It's basically biáng, if you consider it valid.  It's actually used in China, in the name of a popular noodle dish, but it's not easily typeset so menus often say "biangbiang面" (using Latin letters).  [This list (simplified)](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%80%9A%E7%94%A8%E8%A7%84%E8%8C%83%E6%B1%89%E5%AD%97%E8%A1%A8) for high-school students has 齉 as the character with the most strokes.
Becky 李蓓
<characters>
What is the most complex Chinese character?
# What is the most complex Chinese character?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-05-30)

Several years ago, I worked for a firm where I needed to show Chinese characters, and apparently the more complex ones were not clearly displayed. While solving that problem, I needed a test character and a Chinese colleague proposed me some Chinese character, being composed of 53 or 54 strokes, meaning "noodle soup", she claimed that character was the most complex one and contained the recipe of the meal.

Yesterday, I asked ChatGPT about other complex Chinese characters, and this is a part of the conversation:

> My question: The most elaborated character in Chinese language is the character for noodle soup: the character is the recipe of the meal. Are there other examples of Chinese characters, which involve an entire story?

> ChatGPT's answer: (...) *the claim that the character for noodle soup is the most elaborated character in the Chinese language, representing the entire recipe of the meal, is a common myth or misconception.* (...)

I don't work for that firm anymore, so I have no way to verify this.

Does anybody know if ChatGPT is correct: one of my funniest workplace memories is based on a myth or a misconception? Or is ChatGPT plain wrong?

**Tags:** characters

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: There is indeed – there is a dedicated [chinese.se] site where this would be a better fit. For the record: although the _biáng_ character is the most complex one you’re likely to find in the wild, there are others with higher stroke counts, even excluding modern inventions like the Japanese one linked to in username_4’s answer. Many of them are quite obscure, though, and it’s not certain exactly what they mean; [](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/) _zhèng_ is said to mean ‘flourish’, but its attestation is _extremely_ scant, and [](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/) supposedly means ‘talkative’.  
> **username_2**: This is one invented English word: "**YouCanMakeUpAnEnglishWordByTypingEntireBookWithoutSpaces**".  
> **username_3**: Not meaning to be unwelcoming here, but we've had this question a few times already.  It's basically biáng, if you consider it valid.  It's actually used in China, in the name of a popular noodle dish, but it's not easily typeset so menus often say "biangbiang面" (using Latin letters).  [This list (simplified)](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%80%9A%E7%94%A8%E8%A7%84%E8%8C%83%E6%B1%89%E5%AD%97%E8%A1%A8) for high-school students has 齉 as the character with the most strokes.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2023-05-30. Score: 1

In a way, that's true, see Wikipedia [Biangbiang noodles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biangbiang_noodles):

> Both the traditional and simplified Chinese characters for biáng were encoded in Unicode, on March 20, 2020, for Unicode 13.0.0. The code point is U+30EDE for the traditional form () and U+30EDD for the simplified form ().

Some might call this character out for being 'invented' or 'made up', but then all of writing has been invented at some point in time. The character is mainly used in a small region for a very specific product, but then there are quite a few characters that only occur e.g. in a single place name which doesn't keep them from being regarded characters.

But keep in mind that people can, have, and will create new characters for the fun of it, e.g. there is [this famous character with 108 strokes](https://shokaki.hatenablog.jp/entry/2018/12/30/234936).

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: However, you would certainly not use the character composition of _biáng_ to prepare _biángbiáng miàn_!  
> **username_4**: not sure you're joking?  
> **username_5**: Only semi-jokingly, in reference to that part of the OP's question. Horse meat and heart are not considered standard additions to _biángbiáng miàn_, but they are part of its character composition. Additionally, the character lacks wheat/noodle components, and even omits water (essential for good gluten development!).  
> **username_1**: @username_5 I would also be very wary of adding silk, the Moon or caves to my biangbiang noodles. [Okay, the Moon may be meat, but that doesn’t work so well for comedic effect.]  
> **username_2**: You surely can stack up Chinese letters to make an artistic symbol, but a symbol is not an invented word that has meanings and proper uses. The same is true for all languages.  
> **username_6**: @username_5 I just love the idea of composing names of dishes based on the ingredients! Do you know if anyone has actually done that? I mean, it becomes a bit messy (messier) if the ingredients are not simple components, but I still love the idea. You could also use relative size to indicate proportions. If you have twice as much water as flour, you make the 水 twice as big as the 面! If you have three eggs, include three 蛋 and so on.  

---

