LXGW WenKai is a free Kai font for Simplified Chinese by LXGW, on GitHub. It draws 30,131 Chinese characters, and the English alphabet, in 3 weights, 300–500. A Kai face for Simplified Chinese, drawn from Fontworks' Klee One; its Traditional edition is LXGW WenKai TC.
天地玄黄 宇宙洪荒
01 / Characters
Characters of everyday words
The characters Chinese readers learn first, set in LXGW WenKai.
Simplified characters 汉字
Each with its pinyin and meaning
- 永yǒng · eternal
- 天tiān · sky
- 日rì · sun
- 月yuè · moon
- 山shān · mountain
- 水shuǐ · water
- 火huǒ · fire
- 木mù · tree
- 金jīn · gold
- 土tǔ · earth
- 风fēng · wind
- 云yún · cloud
- 雨yǔ · rain
- 花huā · flower
- 春chūn · spring
- 人rén · person
- 心xīn · heart
- 爱ài · love
- 梦mèng · dream
- 龙lóng · dragon
- 马mǎ · horse
- 鸟niǎo · bird
- 鱼yú · fish
- 飞fēi · fly
- 门mén · gate
- 国guó · country
- 东dōng · east
- 学xué · learn
- 书shū · book
- 字zì · character
02 / Text
As running text
The opening of Lu Xun’s My Old Home (1921).
我冒了严寒，回到相隔二千余里，别了二十余年的故乡去。时候既然是深冬；渐近故乡时，天气又阴晦了，冷风吹进船舱中，呜呜的响，从篷隙向外一望，苍黄的天底下，远近横着几个萧索的荒村，没有一些活气。
我冒了严寒，回到相隔二千余里，别了二十余年的故乡去。时候既然是深冬；渐近故乡时，天气又阴晦了，冷风吹进船舱中，呜呜的响，从篷隙向外一望，苍黄的天底下，远近横着几个萧索的荒村，没有一些活气。
我冒了严寒，回到相隔二千余里，别了二十余年的故乡去。时候既然是深冬；渐近故乡时，天气又阴晦了，冷风吹进船舱中，呜呜的响，从篷隙向外一望，苍黄的天底下，远近横着几个萧索的荒村，没有一些活气。
03 / Weights
3 weights
300–500
- Light · 300天地玄黄 宇宙洪荒
- Regular · 400天地玄黄 宇宙洪荒
- Medium · 500天地玄黄 宇宙洪荒
04 / Facts
What it covers
- Characters
- 30,131
- More than the 6,763 of GB 2312, the standard set
- Set
- Simplified
- As mainland China and Singapore write
- Weights
- 3
- 300–500
- Vertical text
- Yes
- Vertical forms of its own, OpenType’s vert
- Font file
- 24.4 MB
- Its Regular, from its maker’s repository
- Licence
- OFL 1.1
- Free for commercial use
Designed by LXGW / Fontworks Inc. Published by LXGW on GitHub, under the SIL Open Font License 1.1.
LatinIt draws the English alphabet too, as in its name:LXGW WenKaiFonts with Latin like it →
06 / Questions
Questions about LXGW WenKai
Answered from its licence and its font file, and each app’s own font list
Is LXGW WenKai free for commercial use?
Yes. LXGW WenKai is under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 , which allows commercial use at any scale: print, websites, apps, videos and logos, for clients and in products. What it forbids is selling the font file on its own.
How do I download and install LXGW WenKai?
FontKind doesn’t host LXGW WenKai’s files: it comes free from LXGW’s repository on GitHub . On its repository there, choose Code, then Download ZIP, and unzip the file. On Windows or a Mac, double-click each font file and choose Install, then restart any app that was open.
Is LXGW WenKai Simplified or Traditional Chinese?
Simplified: LXGW WenKai draws the Simplified forms written in mainland China and Singapore, 30,131 characters in all. For the other set, see the Kai fonts for Traditional Chinese.
How do I use LXGW WenKai on a website?
LXGW WenKai’s font file is large for a web page: 24.4 MB for the Regular file alone. So cut it down to the characters your pages use, a step called subsetting, and serve it as WOFF2: the SIL Open Font License allows that, and as LXGW WenKai reserves no name, your copy may keep it.
Can LXGW WenKai set vertical text?
Yes: LXGW WenKai’s file has vertical forms, the OpenType vert feature, so in a vertical line its commas, full stops and brackets turn and move as they should. On a web page, CSS writing-mode: vertical-rl sets a block vertically; Word, InDesign and Illustrator have vertical text of their own.
Can I use LXGW WenKai in a game or an app?
Yes. The SIL Open Font License lets you build LXGW WenKai into a game, an app or an e-book, sold or free, with no separate licence to buy, as many paid fonts require. Ship its licence with the font files, and don’t sell the font on its own.
Is LXGW WenKai in Microsoft Word?
Not until you install it: LXGW WenKai isn’t one of Microsoft 365’s cloud fonts. Installed, it is in Word’s font menu and PowerPoint’s. On Windows, its weights beyond Regular and Bold show as fonts of their own, such as LXGW WenKai Light and LXGW WenKai Medium. For someone who hasn’t installed it, turn on Embed fonts in the file in Word’s save options: its licence allows that.
Is LXGW WenKai in Google Docs?
Probably not: the More fonts list in Docs draws on Google Fonts, and LXGW WenKai comes from Fontsource. Docs can’t add a font of your own, so set it in an app on your computer, such as Word, instead.
Is LXGW WenKai in Figma?
Not built in: Figma includes Google Fonts, and LXGW WenKai comes from Fontsource. Install it on your computer and Figma lists it.
How many weights does LXGW WenKai have?
LXGW WenKai comes in three weights: Light (300), Regular (400) and Medium (500).
Does LXGW WenKai have English letters?
Yes: LXGW WenKai draws all 52 letters of the English alphabet, so a line that mixes Chinese and English can stay in one font.
Who designed LXGW WenKai?
LXGW WenKai was designed by LXGW / Fontworks Inc. LXGW publishes it on GitHub.
What fonts are similar to LXGW WenKai?
The most used Simplified Chinese Kai font besides LXGW WenKai is LXGW ZhenKai GB. See every Kai font for Simplified Chinese.