ABSTRACT

The Chinese Writing System in Asia: An Interdisciplinary Perspective integrates a diverse range of disciplinary approaches in examining how the Chinese script represents and actively shapes personal and social identities in and beyond Asia. It is an ideal read for students and scholars interested in a broad and culturally rich introduction to research on the Chinese writing system. It can also serve as the main text of an undergraduate course on the subject.

Key features of this volume include:

  • Insights from studies of the Chinese writing system in linguistics, script reform and technology, gender, identity, literature, and the visual arts;
  • Examples embedded in inquiries of the cultural history and contemporary society of Asia;
  • Rigorous yet accessible discussions of complex concepts and phenomena that assume no prior knowledge of Asian languages or linguistics;
  • Supplementary multimedia materials and resources, including instructional support, available online. 

part I|27 pages

Linguistic preliminaries

chapter 1|4 pages

Foundational concepts

chapter 2|6 pages

What is writing?

chapter 3|5 pages

What kinds of writing systems are there?

chapter 4|11 pages

Pīnyīn tutorial

part II|34 pages

Writing Chinese

chapter 5|10 pages

The Chinese speech

chapter 6|5 pages

Written Chinese

chapter 7|11 pages

The Chinese writing system

chapter 8|7 pages

Demythifying the Chinese script

part III|47 pages

Borrowing the Chinese writing system

chapter 9|13 pages

Chinese characters in Asia

An overview

chapter 10|10 pages

Writing Korean

chapter 11|14 pages

Writing Japanese

chapter 12|9 pages

Writing Vietnamese

part IV|46 pages

Reforming the Chinese script

chapter 13|15 pages

Phonetic writing before pīnyīn

chapter 14|9 pages

Pīnyīn

chapter 15|13 pages

Simplification of Chinese characters

chapter 16|8 pages

Writing and technology in modern China

part V|29 pages

Identity and gender in writing Chinese

chapter 17|5 pages

Handwriting and personhood

chapter 18|6 pages

Sexism in the Chinese writing system

chapter 19|10 pages

Nǚshū

Women's script

chapter 20|7 pages

Script choice in writing Japanese

part VI|46 pages

Chinese characters in art and literature

chapter 21|12 pages

Chinese calligraphy

chapter 22|12 pages

A calligraphy workshop

chapter 23|7 pages

Modern calligraphy in China

chapter 24|7 pages

Chinese characters in Avant-garde art