| 初露 | chū lù | first sign (of budding talent) |
| 初露才华 | chū lù cái huá | first sign of budding talent; to display one's ability for the first time |
| 初露锋芒 | chū lù fēng máng | first sign of budding talent; to display one's ability for the first time |
| 初露头角 | chū lù tóu jiǎo | lit. to first show one's horns (idiom); fig. a first show of emerging talent; first sign of emerging talent; budding genius |
| 和好如初 | hé hǎo rú chū | to bury the hatchet; to become reconciled |
| 唐初四大家 | Táng chū Sì Dà jiā | Four Great Poets of early Tang; refers to Yu Shi'nan 虞世南, Ouyang Xun 欧阳询, Chu Suiliang 楮遂良 and Xue Ji 薛稷 |
| 太初 | tài chū | the absolute beginning |
| 年代初 | nián dài chū | beginning of an age; beginning of a decade |
| 张静初 | Zhāng Jìng chū | Zhang Jingchu (1980-), PRC actress |
| 悔不当初 | huǐ bù dāng chū | to regret one's past deeds (idiom) |
| 情窦初开 | qíng dòu chū kāi | first awakening of love (usually of a girl) (idiom) |
| 早知今日何必当初 | zǎo zhī jīn rì hè bì dāng chū | if I (you, she, he...) had known it would come to this, I (you, she, he...) would not have acted thus (idiom); to regret vainly one's past behaviour |
| 明初 | Míng chū | the early Ming (i.e. from second half of 14th century) |
| 明末清初 | Míng mò Qīng chū | late Ming and early Qing; around the middle of the 17th century |
| 易初莲花 | yì chū lián huā | Lotus (department store chain) |
| 本初子午线 | běn chū zǐ wǔ xiàn | the first meridian; the prime meridian |
格林尼治本初子午
线 | Gé lín ní zhì běn chū zǐ wǔ xiàn | the Greenwich meridian |
| 正月初一 | zhēng yuè chū yī | New Year's Day in the lunar calendar |
| 清末民初 | Qīng mò Mín chū | the late Qin and early Republic, i.e. China around 1911 |
| 汉末魏初 | Hàn mò Wèi chū | late Han and early Wei (roughly, first half of 3rd century AD) |
| 华灯初上 | huá dēng chū shàng | early evening when lanterns are first lit |
| 开初 | kāi chū | at the outset; at first; early |
| 阿初佛 | Ā chū fó | erroneous variant of 阿閦佛, Aksobhya, the imperturbable ruler of Eastern Paradise, Abhirati |
靡不有初，
鲜克有终 | mǐ bù yǒu chū ,
xiǎn kè yǒu zhōng | almost everything has a start, but not many things have an end (idiom); don't start sth you can't handle |
