China Construction Kit

by Mark Rosenfelder

An essential and very readable resource for conlangers and writers who want to create a non-European world, and anyone who wants to know more about our planet’s leading civilization.A concise but meaty overview of the history, philosophy, and literature of China, and much clothing, architecture, technology, cosmology, medicine, cuisine, and more.Plus grammatical sketches of both Mandarin and Old Chinese, and a discussion of the writing system. The history and literature sections are written for people interested in the Chinese languages, with key terms in both pinyin and hanzi.

Genres: Writing, History, Nonfiction, China

512 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2015

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good overview (detailed but non-academic) of Chinese history and language. Other aspects of Chinese culture, including philosophy and clothing, are covered in lesser detail, though the information presented is still valuable.

The book is primarily aimed at conlangers (constructed language enthusiasts) and worldbuilders, but will also be appreciated by others who are looking to gain some basic knowledge of these topics. It should be noted that the section on Chinese language does assume that the reader has some basic knowledge of linguistics concepts (if you don't, then I still recommend the rest of the book, but you might find the language part frustrating).