Chinese Character Writing For Dummies

Dr. Wendy Abraham is an award-winning public speaker who has taught Chinese language, literature, and culture at universities throughout the U.S. She holds a doctorate from Columbia University, and pursued a PhD in Chinese literature at Stanford University. Jing Li is a language teacher and researcher at the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO) in Paris.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 2Icons Used in This Book 2Where to Go from Here 2Chapter 1: Wrapping Your Mind around the Chinese Writing System 3Appreciating the Complexities of Written Chinese 3How the Written Word Unifies China 4What? No Alphabet? 5Which Way Did They Go? The Direction of Characters 5Chinese Language Reform 6Traditional versus Simplified Characters 7Why Learn to Write Chinese? 8Strategies for Learning to Write Chinese Characters 8Set goals 9Write, review, rinse, repeat 9Cultivate your inner character whisperer 10Practice creative visualization 10Chapter 2: Understanding the Structure of Chinese Characters 11Simple versus Composite Characters 11The Six Scripts 12Pictographs 13Simple ideographs 14Compound ideographs 14Phonetic compounds 14Reciprocal characters 15Phonetic loan characters 15What a Radical Idea! The Incredible Radical 15Why all the fuss about radicals? 16How to use a Chinese dictionary without an alphabet 16Deciphering Strokes 17Types of strokes 18Stroke order 19Chapter 3: Preparing to Write Beautifully 21From Then to Now: A Brief History of Chinese Writing 22Carving on bone 22From etchings to brush and ink 22Adding bronze carvings to the mix 23Widespread use of brush and ink 23Moveable type and word processing 23The Evolution of Chinese Script 24Oracle bone script 24Bronze inscriptions 25Seal script 25Clerical script 26Running script 26Grass script 26Regular script 27The Four Treasures of Chinese Calligraphy 27Writing brush 28Ink 29Rice paper 29Ink stone 29Tools and Techniques for the Modern-Day Calligrapher (or Writer) 30Chapter 4: 100 Chinese Characters 33Appendix A: The 214 Chinese Radicals 83Appendix B: Compound Words to Practice 91Appendix C: Sentences to Practice 101Appendix D: Blank Grids for Extra Practice 113