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I don't know Chinese but it seems like more difficult method because you have to remember how the character is written instead of just typing the spelling and choosing from a list.

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You need to know how the character is written regardless because the stroke order is part of the character. There are some basic rules like working left to right and top to bottom. Also, each component has the same order when written out.

I also seem to recall there's been successful input system like this for Japanese, in particular for handhelds with pen input (think psion and similar early devices).

Optical recognition of Kanji can be though, but with stroke direction it is easier.

See for example : https://jisho.org/#handwriting

Yes, but reading and writing are different skills. For example, there are some characters I can recognise but won't be able to write correctly.

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