What do you think?
Rate this book
The Country of the Blind: Mandarin Companion Graded Readers: Level 1, Simplified Chinese Edition
Mandarin Companion: New graded readers for a new generation of Chinese learners.
Now you can read books in Chinese that are fun and accelerate your language learning. Every book is carefully written to use only Mandarin Companion: New graded readers for a new generation of Chinese learners. Now you can read book in Chinese that are fun and accelerate your language learning. Every book in the Mandarin Companion series is carefully written to use characters, words, and grammar that a learner is likely to know.
Level 1 is written using approximately 300 unique Chinese characters and intended for Chinese learners at an upper-elementary level. Most learners will be able to approach this book after one to two years of formal study, depending on the learner and program. This series is designed to combine simplicity of characters with an easy-to-understand storyline that helps beginners grow their vocabulary and language comprehension abilities.
“In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king” repeats in Chen Fangyuan’s mind after he finds himself trapped in a valley holding a community of people for whom a disease eliminated their vision many generations before and no longer have a concept of sight. Chen Fangyuan quickly finds that these people have developed their other senses to compensate for their lack of sight. His insistence that he can see causes the entire community to believe he is crazy. With no way out, Chen Fangyuan begins to accept his fate until one day the village doctors believe they now understand what is the cause of his insanity… those useless round objects in his eye sockets.
Visit www.MandarinCompanion.com for updates on the newest titles and learning resources.
Now you can read books in Chinese that are fun and accelerate your language learning. Every book is carefully written to use only Mandarin Companion: New graded readers for a new generation of Chinese learners. Now you can read book in Chinese that are fun and accelerate your language learning. Every book in the Mandarin Companion series is carefully written to use characters, words, and grammar that a learner is likely to know.
Level 1 is written using approximately 300 unique Chinese characters and intended for Chinese learners at an upper-elementary level. Most learners will be able to approach this book after one to two years of formal study, depending on the learner and program. This series is designed to combine simplicity of characters with an easy-to-understand storyline that helps beginners grow their vocabulary and language comprehension abilities.
“In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king” repeats in Chen Fangyuan’s mind after he finds himself trapped in a valley holding a community of people for whom a disease eliminated their vision many generations before and no longer have a concept of sight. Chen Fangyuan quickly finds that these people have developed their other senses to compensate for their lack of sight. His insistence that he can see causes the entire community to believe he is crazy. With no way out, Chen Fangyuan begins to accept his fate until one day the village doctors believe they now understand what is the cause of his insanity… those useless round objects in his eye sockets.
Visit www.MandarinCompanion.com for updates on the newest titles and learning resources.
- GenresChina
98 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 14, 2015
38 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 9, 2023
Super fun and interesting read. After two level 1 Mandarin companion readers, I feel very comfortable reading at this level. This is probably the most effective way I have ever learned Mandarin.
June 9, 2020
“盲人国” 被 H. G. Wells 写了，是很好的事。我一定推进这个故事因为反而我喜欢它的情节和教训，不但这个故事有很多类别，所以很多人可以喜欢。作品是虚构的，民间的，爱情的，有可能悬疑的。“盲人国” 的人物不错，可是冲突非常有意思。所有人应该看这个故事。
我喜欢这个书，可是我不喜欢书的主角。陈方远是主角的名字，他很平明，容易生气，和顽固。他总是认为自己想法对的，他不喜欢听别的人。他容易生气，他用石头打了盲人们因为他们不了解他！虽然我不喜欢陈方远，但是结局的时候他的做法一点好。陈方远的对象的名字是江雪，他好，可是我最喜欢的人物是王爷爷。王爷爷是聪明，也有耐心。陈方远对王爷爷他的问题，王爷爷了解他。盲人们对王爷爷有信心。别的 “盲人国” 的人物比较王爷爷不好。王爷爷最酷的人物！
我最喜欢的部分是陈方远跟盲人们吃一起，互相喜欢，交朋友，和陈方远发生他的想法错。陈方远先认为他应该当过往，大家人都爱他，他可以解救盲人们因为他们看不见。但是陈方远看过他们可以莫和听非常好，他们不得有眼睛。可是我不喜欢盲人们要不让陈方远用他的眼睛的时候因为很害怕！盲人们说如果陈方远跟江雪要在一起，陈方远得看不见。我觉得那个晚上他想一下的时候很难。陈方远得选能看见或者他的女朋友。非常难的选择！很有意思的冲突。不之间两个人物，之间自己。陈方远想以后他离开盲人国因为他发生他不永远住在盲人国。他对盲人们 “再见，” 连江雪都不说。很可怜。那个结局很伤心，可是我喜欢。我觉得满意，情节的结局很好。我不要改变什么部分。我认为结局很好因为陈方远成熟了。他知道他跟江雪不可以在一起因为他们从不同意的世界，他们不能完全互相了解。这个故事的教训很重要：有的时候你得听别的人的想法，有的时候你得听自己，你得决定，可是如果你成熟了，你知道怎么决定。
我一定推荐这个故事，所有的人应该看，不管他们的年纪。人们喜欢虚构的故事可以学关于虚构的地方交盲人国，人们喜欢明见故事一定喜欢这个故事因为很久以前的时候，人们喜欢爱情的故事有陈方远跟江雪的伤心的故事，和人们喜欢悬疑的故事可以看陈方远的问题。我给这个故事四点五星！谢谢，H. G. Wells！
我喜欢这个书，可是我不喜欢书的主角。陈方远是主角的名字，他很平明，容易生气，和顽固。他总是认为自己想法对的，他不喜欢听别的人。他容易生气，他用石头打了盲人们因为他们不了解他！虽然我不喜欢陈方远，但是结局的时候他的做法一点好。陈方远的对象的名字是江雪，他好，可是我最喜欢的人物是王爷爷。王爷爷是聪明，也有耐心。陈方远对王爷爷他的问题，王爷爷了解他。盲人们对王爷爷有信心。别的 “盲人国” 的人物比较王爷爷不好。王爷爷最酷的人物！
我最喜欢的部分是陈方远跟盲人们吃一起，互相喜欢，交朋友，和陈方远发生他的想法错。陈方远先认为他应该当过往，大家人都爱他，他可以解救盲人们因为他们看不见。但是陈方远看过他们可以莫和听非常好，他们不得有眼睛。可是我不喜欢盲人们要不让陈方远用他的眼睛的时候因为很害怕！盲人们说如果陈方远跟江雪要在一起，陈方远得看不见。我觉得那个晚上他想一下的时候很难。陈方远得选能看见或者他的女朋友。非常难的选择！很有意思的冲突。不之间两个人物，之间自己。陈方远想以后他离开盲人国因为他发生他不永远住在盲人国。他对盲人们 “再见，” 连江雪都不说。很可怜。那个结局很伤心，可是我喜欢。我觉得满意，情节的结局很好。我不要改变什么部分。我认为结局很好因为陈方远成熟了。他知道他跟江雪不可以在一起因为他们从不同意的世界，他们不能完全互相了解。这个故事的教训很重要：有的时候你得听别的人的想法，有的时候你得听自己，你得决定，可是如果你成熟了，你知道怎么决定。
我一定推荐这个故事，所有的人应该看，不管他们的年纪。人们喜欢虚构的故事可以学关于虚构的地方交盲人国，人们喜欢明见故事一定喜欢这个故事因为很久以前的时候，人们喜欢爱情的故事有陈方远跟江雪的伤心的故事，和人们喜欢悬疑的故事可以看陈方远的问题。我给这个故事四点五星！谢谢，H. G. Wells！
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2020
Fun!
If I had the money, I would buy the whole damned series at once, at all levels. I learned a lot of my English by extensively consuming English language media, but especially books, and I wish there would have been stuff like this back then!
Reading Chinese and actually understanding it without much use of a dictionary is very fulfilling, even though I know these texts would be extremely basic for a native speaker.
The best part is, if you still find level one too challenging (like I did a month ago), there's even a level below it you can start at, the Breakthrough Level. Don't be intimidated, give this a try. The more you try, the easier reading will become.
Kudos to the authors, and thanks for aiding me in this long language learning journey!
If I had the money, I would buy the whole damned series at once, at all levels. I learned a lot of my English by extensively consuming English language media, but especially books, and I wish there would have been stuff like this back then!
Reading Chinese and actually understanding it without much use of a dictionary is very fulfilling, even though I know these texts would be extremely basic for a native speaker.
The best part is, if you still find level one too challenging (like I did a month ago), there's even a level below it you can start at, the Breakthrough Level. Don't be intimidated, give this a try. The more you try, the easier reading will become.
Kudos to the authors, and thanks for aiding me in this long language learning journey!
September 8, 2021
This is a good book in the Mandarin Companion universe to read if you're looking for more of a challenge within Level 1. The vocabulary and grammar are not any different from what you would expect from a Level 1 book. However, the story uses vocabulary and grammar patterns in ways that require more imagination. The plot, being a little bit sci-fi/fantasy, has you reading things that you're not sure you actually read quite right. The first half of the story was not as engaging but the second half was a little crazier and more fun. I felt my language skills really stretching by reading this book. I enjoyed it.
June 2, 2022
A very short and fast read, I feel like I'm finally comfortable with reading simplified, at least at this fairly low level. The whole thing took maybe half an hour to read, so it wasn't much practice, but out of all the Mandarin Companion books that I've tried so far (thankfully all borrowed as ebooks from the local library), this one is my favorite. I found the story to be the most interesting, so the sheer repetitiveness of the sentences and dialogue (which I know is totally intentional) was a little more bearable. I assume the twist at the end is from the H.G. Wells story and it does make me want to read the original!
July 16, 2025
This is my 3rd level 1 Mandarin Companion Graded Reader. And I've honestly learned so much since the first one! I was able to enjoy this one the most out of the level 1's I've read so far because of that, and I love that it kept me engaged throughout the story (as this series of graded readers always does). I think that this particular story shouldn't be the first level 1 book you should read, as some of the concepts can be a little more abstract in comparison to Mandarin Companion's The Secret Garden, which I found to be a good introduction to this level.
March 9, 2021
Good. I really liked the ending, but overall didn't enjoy this as The Monkey's Paw.
May 15, 2023
I think that this adaptation of the original story was very well done.
Today marks exactly 1 year since I started learning Mandarin, and finishing this book was good way to wrap up the year. This is my favourite Mandarin companion book so far.
Today marks exactly 1 year since I started learning Mandarin, and finishing this book was good way to wrap up the year. This is my favourite Mandarin companion book so far.
December 20, 2020
This review regards the Taiwanese Mandarin edition of the Mandarin Companion adaptation of the book and not the original text itself.
This is the third Mandarin Companion book I've read. The story itself is quite interesting and gripping with some devastating consequences for the main character. It bears a lot of resemblance to James Hilton's Lost Horizon, which I read in English earlier this year, both story wise – about the discovery of a lost isolated community – and thematically – about the dilemma of giving up your old world and life in favour of a new one. The end has been altered from the original in this adaptation. I'm not sure how the original ends as I haven't read it, but at least in this one I think the main character took the right decision in the end. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to practice some Taiwanese Mandarin reading.
The book is 62 pages long and is built up using 300 core characters plus 96 additional words. There was only 2 characters that were new to me.
Now time to try level 2..
This is the third Mandarin Companion book I've read. The story itself is quite interesting and gripping with some devastating consequences for the main character. It bears a lot of resemblance to James Hilton's Lost Horizon, which I read in English earlier this year, both story wise – about the discovery of a lost isolated community – and thematically – about the dilemma of giving up your old world and life in favour of a new one. The end has been altered from the original in this adaptation. I'm not sure how the original ends as I haven't read it, but at least in this one I think the main character took the right decision in the end. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to practice some Taiwanese Mandarin reading.
The book is 62 pages long and is built up using 300 core characters plus 96 additional words. There was only 2 characters that were new to me.
Now time to try level 2..
April 5, 2025
It’s a cracking read if you’ve only been learning Chinese for a few months.
The vocab’s been carefully picked for beginners, so it’s proper beginner-friendly.
I seriously recommend giving it a go if you're studying Chinese.
Best way to enjoy it? Read along while listening to the audiobook—absolute game-changer.
The vocab’s been carefully picked for beginners, so it’s proper beginner-friendly.
I seriously recommend giving it a go if you're studying Chinese.
Best way to enjoy it? Read along while listening to the audiobook—absolute game-changer.
October 2, 2019
Read for pleasure and understanding.
It's a lovely version of the original HG Wells story. It has some different elements to center it more in China. It's a well done, charming story. I have read it several times and each time I get a new understanding and I recognize more grammatical structures. Good read!
It's a lovely version of the original HG Wells story. It has some different elements to center it more in China. It's a well done, charming story. I have read it several times and each time I get a new understanding and I recognize more grammatical structures. Good read!
May 2, 2015
My first "book" read in Chinese... exhausting! Quite well done given the very limited vocabulary, and the repetition definitely helped my reading speed a lot.
March 29, 2016
很享受了，但是他们改变了本来的故事
May 26, 2018
In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is not king, he is apparently insane.
July 6, 2017
Ok, but not as good as 秘密花园. Also Mandarin Companion should really include audio with their books.
January 31, 2019
很有意思！我的中文不好。不过我会看这本书。盲人的国家的人的想法很有意思。我不想去哪里。不过我觉得这个故事很玩儿。今年我想看很多书！
May 21, 2019
Finally a Mandarin Companion book with a good story! Loved it!
August 21, 2022
I enjoyed this one a lot. For being a graded reader it had an engaging story, and thus provided both an interesting read and a great opportunity to develop Chinese fluency.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews