[(What's in a Chinese Character)] [Author: Tan Huay Peng] published on

by Huoping Chen

This fascinating book uses cartoons by Tan Huay Peng to illustrate the origins and development of Chinese characters. The historical background of the script is accompanied by information on stroke types, stroke sequence and Hanyu Pinyin pronunciation. Days, months and numbers in Chinese are also provided in the appendix, making this book invaluable to anyone starting to learn Chinese. With b&w illustrations.

Genres: China

Paperback

First published December 31, 1999

Reviews

[Knut · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the few books which I have kept throughout the years of learning Chinese, while I got rid of ordinary text books or dictionaries. Bought in the early 2000 I still return to it for reference or simply because I enjoy looking at the cartoons which explain how the meaning of characters became what they are now. Cartoons are probably the best method to show the etymological development of the Chinese language, because pictograms - at least central concepts - are derived from real life situations and then simplified into a rather abstract stroke order. The cartoon is a step in this process of simplifying reality - how it was perceived 3000 years plus ago - into a character. Tan Huay Peng therefore helps the reader and Chinese learner to understand the mindset of those ancient sages who crafted this language; and as such a perceptional reality of man in an early agricultural society.

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning Chinese can seem to be a daunting experience, and while it's certainly difficult, books as "What's in a Chinese character?" provide useful mnemotechnic tools. Each page features two characters. Each one includes the simplified character, its corresponding pinyin and English translation, a list of other words which include the character in question, a step-by-step guide to writing the said character, and an explanation of the ethimological origin of the word. These features are nicely complemented by relevant Chinese proverbs and a humourous cartoon that have the aim of aiding the student to remember the character with greater ease. Each set of 3-5 characters are arranged according to its radical, which should also work as a learning tool.