Abstract: This paper was designed to study Chinese-character-copying in 37 patients with cerebral lesions.The results showed that lesions of the cerebral hemisphere may lead to Chinese character copying disorder,but the degree of disorder had no statistical difference between the right side and the left side,between the cortical and the subcortical area, and no difference between patients with.aphasia and those with nonaphasia whether the patients were aphasic or not,there was no interrelation between copying and dictation, the relationship between copying of Chinese character and copying painting was dependent on the educational background,patients with less edeucation(not being able to read and write) showed significant interrelation between the ability of copying of the Chinese character and that of copying of painting and also under the influence of unilateral spatial neglect, while for the patients with reading and writing ability,the above mentioned factors could not be found in the copying of Chinese characters.It was suggested that different ways of writing Chinese characters had different neural mechanisms. The main process of copying for the persons who were not able to read and write was related to the right cerebrum, while that for the persons who were able to read and write was related to the usage of the right and left cerebrum.

Key words: cerebral lesion Chinese character copying