What’s in a Chinese Character [Chinese-English Edition]. ISBN: 9787510458897

Format: Softcover, 185 pages, 186mm x 258mm
Shipping Weight: 480g
Language: Simplified Characters, Pinyin, English

This fascinating book uses cartoons by Tan Huay Peng to illustrate the origin and development of Chinese characters to their present form. The historical background of the script is given, as well as information on the type of stroke, 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. 

Preface
A Chinese script of one form or another has been in existence for over 5,000 years. Although it has continued to develop, the basic form of the writing was already established by 200 A.D. This makes it not only a very interesting aspect of Chinese life, but also one of mankind’s greatest early achievements.

Chinese script consists of characters, which range from simple pictographic representations of objects, to complex compound characters. These are built up from root characters, or radicals. Of the 214 radicals, some can function independently as characters, and are then contracted when they appear in combination.

This set of cartoons illustrates how some of the radicals, and their associated characters, have evolved over the years. They make a useful introduction to the Chinese language and also provide a fascinating insight into the Chinese sense of humour. Useful information and basic knowledge is provided on the origins and development, as well as the types of stroke and stroke sequence of 369 commonly used characters introduced in the book, which will help those learning Chinese characters and their written forms. Also, the Chinese words for numbers, days and months are provided in the Appendix. In addition, the Index, arranged in the order of pinyin (the phonetic transcriptions of Chinese characters) syllables, provides great convenience for finding the meaning of each character for readers.

All the cartoons in the book were drawn by Tan Huay Peng. In publishing this bilingual edition we have received great help from Federal Publications (S) Pte Led, Singapore who supplied us with the English text and cartoons published in the book WHAT’S IN A CHINESE CHARACTER in 1998. Therefore, with the publication of this bilingual edition, we express our heartfelt thanks to the author and the original publisher. We sincerely hope that this book will help readers savour the inexhaustible charms of Chinese characters and enjoy the fruits of learning through leisurely reading.

趣味汉字（汉英）
本书以卡通画一字一图的形式，生动形象地描述了汉语中常用的汉字偏旁部首的起源、发展、演变至今的过程。本书不仅讲述了汉字产生的历史背景，还对汉字的字体和笔划顺序作了必要的说明。本书对汉语初学者和对汉语感兴趣的人士来说，是一本极为有价值的参考书。书后附录中所列的汉语月、日和数字的表达方法，对每个汉语初学者更具有很大的帮助作用。

前言
中国的汉字至今已有五千多年的历史。尽管汉字不断地发展演变，但基础的汉字书写形式在公元200年就形成了。它不仅生动地反映出中国人生活的一个侧面，问时也标志着人类早期文明的伟大成就。

汉字包括各种各样的字体形式，从简单的表形和表意字到复杂的复合字，均由汉字的字根或形声旁发展演变而来。在汉字中共有214个形声旁。有些可以独立作为单独的字而存在，有些则需要与其他的字组合而成。

本书以卡通漫画形式表现出形声旁以及与它们相关联的字是如何发展演化的过程，形象地讲述了汉字的起源以及中国人内心深处蕴藏的幽默感。书中详细地介绍了369个常用汉字的起源和发展、它们的各种笔画形式和顺序，以及一些基础的汉字知识。这些都能有效地帮助初学者学习汉字，掌握正确的书写形式。同时，本书的附录还为初学者提供了汉语中有关月份、星期和数字的表达方法。此外，书后按汉语拼音音节顺序编排的索引为读者和初学者查找本书中每个汉字的具体内容提供了极大的方便。