Chinese Characters across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese
By Zev Handel
University of Washington Press
ISBN: 9780295753027
This book explores the development of the character-based writing system in ancient and medieval China, tracing how it evolved over time. It also examines how this system came to be adopted and adapted in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, enabling the recording and transmission of knowledge across cultures.
Excerpt:
So I decided to try to make this topic I loved accessible to a general readership. My goal in writing this book has been to tell the story of the global history of Chinese characters: to explain how they function and how they have been adapted, in a way that is approachable yet not overly simplified. While this book will be of interest to readers who already know one or more of the languages discussed (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Zhuang), I have strived to make it understandable and engaging for those who have no prior exposure to them at all or to Chinese writing. I have not presumed any knowledge of linguistics or of particular languages.
The three-thousand-year history of Chinese characters is but one instance of the incredible story of writing, perhaps the most transformative and powerful invention of our species. The creation, dissemination, and meta morphosis of writing systems has cut across cultural, linguistic, religious, and political lines over five millennia of human history, allowing us to record the fleeting ephemera of spoken utterances and convey detailed messages across vast distances and far into the future. I hope that in this book I manage to convey some of the enthusiasm and excitement that I feel when I think about this great story.
Who is this book for?
Written for readers with no prior knowledge of East Asian languages, this book begins by explaining how Chinese characters work and how they developed over the past three thousand years. Subsequent chapters explore how this system spread to neighbouring countries, where it was taken up and reshaped before undergoing major changes around the turn of the twentieth century. At times, the reader may find the material challenging, as the descriptions are necessarily technical.
Those interested in the history of language and writing will find it an engaging read, while students of medieval China—and, to some extent, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam—will also find it a useful resource.
“As a native speaker of Chinese and a longtime instructor of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL), I approached this book both as a language professional and as an engaged language learner. I found myself repeatedly wishing that it had been available when I first studied Japanese in college, as many of the questions I struggled with at the time—particularly those concerning morphology, phonology, and script—are addressed here with remarkable clarity. The book’s insights are especially valuable for learners navigating multiple East Asian languages, as well as for students encountering one language through the lens of another.” ~ review by Wen-pin Hsieh in Chinese Studies International
The Author
Zev Handel is Professor of Chinese Language and Linguistics at the University of Washington. His research focuses on Chinese script and its history.
Chinese Characters across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese
By Zev Handel
University of Washington Press
ISBN: 9780295753027
This book explores the development of the character-based writing system in ancient and medieval China, tracing how it evolved over time. It also examines how this system came to be adopted and adapted in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, enabling the recording and transmission of knowledge across cultures.
Excerpt:
So I decided to try to make this topic I loved accessible to a general readership. My goal in writing this book has been to tell the story of the global history of Chinese characters: to explain how they function and how they have been adapted, in a way that is approachable yet not overly simplified. While this book will be of interest to readers who already know one or more of the languages discussed (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Zhuang), I have strived to make it understandable and engaging for those who have no prior exposure to them at all or to Chinese writing. I have not presumed any knowledge of linguistics or of particular languages.
The three-thousand-year history of Chinese characters is but one instance of the incredible story of writing, perhaps the most transformative and powerful invention of our species. The creation, dissemination, and meta morphosis of writing systems has cut across cultural, linguistic, religious, and political lines over five millennia of human history, allowing us to record the fleeting ephemera of spoken utterances and convey detailed messages across vast distances and far into the future. I hope that in this book I manage to convey some of the enthusiasm and excitement that I feel when I think about this great story.
Who is this book for?
Written for readers with no prior knowledge of East Asian languages, this book begins by explaining how Chinese characters work and how they developed over the past three thousand years. Subsequent chapters explore how this system spread to neighbouring countries, where it was taken up and reshaped before undergoing major changes around the turn of the twentieth century. At times, the reader may find the material challenging, as the descriptions are necessarily technical.
Those interested in the history of language and writing will find it an engaging read, while students of medieval China—and, to some extent, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam—will also find it a useful resource.
“As a native speaker of Chinese and a longtime instructor of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL), I approached this book both as a language professional and as an engaged language learner. I found myself repeatedly wishing that it had been available when I first studied Japanese in college, as many of the questions I struggled with at the time—particularly those concerning morphology, phonology, and script—are addressed here with remarkable clarity. The book’s insights are especially valuable for learners navigating multiple East Asian languages, as well as for students encountering one language through the lens of another.” ~ review by Wen-pin Hsieh in Chinese Studies International
The Author
Zev Handel is Professor of Chinese Language and Linguistics at the University of Washington. His research focuses on Chinese script and its history.
You can learn more about this book from the publisher’s website.
You can buy this book on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
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