Using a thematic analysis methodology, this paper attempts a critical review of published articles on Chinese character teaching and learning in and outside China between 2005 and 2019, highlighting contributions scholars made to the current literature as well as identifying gaps in the research. The analysis reveals that there is a rather large gap in the use of research methodologies between the two sets of articles, with publications in China predominantly adopting non-empirical approaches while most articles published outside China are empirical. Besides, the use of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in character teaching and learning seems to be a key research topic outside China, while exploring new pedagogical ideas and strategies attracts more interest among scholars in China. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research directions and a call for more diverse research paradigms and mixed-method perspectives.