Category: History

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Culture Experiences History Language Learning Technology Theocratic

cùnbù‐bù‐lí

cùnbù (cùn·bù {Ch. inch (3⅓ cm) → [tiny]} · step 寸步)‐bù (not 不)‐lí (leave; {part/depart [from]}; {[is] away/apart/distant/far apart from} 离 離/离) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

Rather than dismissively thinking to ourselves that the songs produced by the organization are “just songs”, we should remember that the slave class takes seriously its responsibility to provide spiritual food to God’s people, and so it is going to make sure that the lyrics in its songs are spiritually correct, while also being emotionally moving.—Ezekiel 33:32; Matthew 24:45.

Not Deviating an Inch

“cùnbù‐bù‐lí” _Pīnyīn_ Plus info, Song 161 (music+_Pīnyīn_), on iPhone 13 mini (landscape orientation)

This week’s MEotW in the unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web)

This week’s MEotW, “cùnbù (cùn·bù {Ch. inch (3⅓ cm) → [tiny]} · step 寸步)‐bù (not 不)‐lí (leave; {part/depart [from]}; {[is] away/apart/distant/far apart from} 离 離/离)”, comes from the chorus of song 161, which is entitled “To Do Your Will Is My Delight” in English and “Wǒ (I 我) Lèyú (Lè·yú {Am Happy} · to 乐于 樂於) Zūnxíng (Zūn·xíng {Abide by} · {Walk → [Do]} 遵行) Nǐ de ((Nǐ You 你) (de ’s 的) → [Your]) Zhǐyì (Zhǐ·yì Will · {Meaning → [Will]} → [Will] 旨意)” in Mandarin:

English:

To do your will is my delight.
I give you all my strength and might.
This joy I feel; this joy is real.
I will walk on in your light.

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):

📖 📄 📘 “Wǒ (I 我) lèyú (lè·yú {am happy} · to 乐于 樂於) zūnxíng (zūn·xíng {abide by} · {walk → [do]} 遵行) nǐ (your 你) zhǐyì (zhǐ·yì will · {meaning → [will]} → [will] 旨意)!”
Chíshǒu (Chí·shǒu {to hold → [to support]} · {to defend → [to abide by]} → [to hold fast to] 持守) zhēnlǐ (zhēn·lǐ true · reasoning → [the truth] 真理), cùnbù (cùn·bù {Ch. inch (3⅓ cm) → [tiny]} · step 寸步)‐bù (not 不)‐lí ({to depart} 离 離/离),
Gānxīn (Gān·xīn {to be (of) sweet → [to be of willing]} · heart → [to be willing] 甘心) lèyì (lè·yì {to be (of) happy} · {meaning → [intention]} → [to be willing] 乐意 樂意), wúwèi (wú·wèi {to be without} · {fearing of} 无畏 無畏) jiānxīn (jiān·xīn {(things being) arduous} · {(things being) hot (in taste) → [(things being) hard]} → [hardships] 艰辛 艱辛),
Jìn ({to expend to the limit} 尽 盡) quánlì (quán·lì whole · strength 全力), zài‐suǒ‐bùxī ((zài in 在)‐(suǒ place 所)‐(bù·xī not · {to cherish → [to stint]} 不惜) → [not to balk]).

While not being a direct translation, “Chíshǒu (Chí·shǒu {to hold → [to support]} · {to defend → [to abide by]} → [to hold fast to] 持守) zhēnlǐ (zhēn·lǐ true · reasoning → [the truth] 真理), cùnbù (cùn·bù {Ch. inch (3⅓ cm) → [tiny]} · step 寸步)‐bù (not 不)‐lí ({to depart} 离 離/离)” seems to correspond with “I will walk on in your light” in the above example. For those who are interested, a more literal translation of “Chíshǒu (Chí·shǒu {to hold → [to support]} · {to defend → [to abide by]} → [to hold fast to] 持守) zhēnlǐ (zhēn·lǐ true · reasoning → [the truth] 真理), cùnbù (cùn·bù {Ch. inch (3⅓ cm) → [tiny]} · step 寸步)‐bù (not 不)‐lí ({to depart} 离 離/离)” would be “to hold fast to the truth, (even) a step of an inch not to depart (from it)”. To get even further into the weeds, while the expression “cùn ({Ch. inch (3⅓ cm)} [→ [inch | very little/short; small; tiny]] 寸)” that is used above is now often used to mean the British Imperial inch (2.54 cm), it actually originally referred to the Chinese inch (3⅓ cm). Either way, a “cùnbù (cùn·bù {Ch. inch (3⅓ cm) → [tiny]} · step 寸步)” is a tiny step indeed.

Regarding the other morphemes in “cùnbù (cùn·bù {Ch. inch (3⅓ cm) → [tiny]} · step 寸步)‐bù (not 不)‐lí (leave; {part/depart [from]}; {[is] away/apart/distant/far apart from} 离 離/离)”, it may be helpful to note that the “bù” (step; pace (v or n) [→ [condition; situation; state]] 步) in “cùnbù” (cùn·bù {Ch. inch (3⅓ cm) → [tiny]} · step 寸步) also appears in the well-known expressions “bùzhòu” (bù·zhòu step · {to be trotted} → [step; move; measure; phase] 步骤 步驟) and “jìnbù (jìn·bù {advancing [of]} · steps → [progress[ing]; advancing; improvement] 进步 進步)”, and that this “lí” (leave; {part from}; {[is] away/apart/distant/far apart from} 离 離/离) is the one in “líkāi (lí·kāi leave · {to be opened [from] → [away [from]; apart [from]; clear [of]]} 离开 離開).”

Musical Notation 🎼 and the Mandarin Field

In this post about a Mandarin expression found in our songbook, another subject that I want to touch on is: Is musical notation 🎼 too hard to be worth the trouble of producing it and using it? Are fewer and fewer people able to read it? I was fortunate enough to have been taught how to read musical notation in school. I have never thought of musical notation as being particularly difficult to use (it’s much easier to learn than characters, which many unquestioningly try to learn), and I find that it helps me to sing Kingdom songs more correctly (according to the intended melody, message, etc.) and more confidently more of the time. However, I am aware that not everyone in the Mandarin field has the same experience with musical notation. For example, a while ago, an older brother told me that he didn’t know how to read musical notation. Also, some people in the Mandarin field may have been affected by how education systems in this old world have been facing significant challenges relating to providing music education for younger ones.

Regardless of how the world may be failing in many cases to equitably provide good music education, Jehovah’s organization has pointed out that music is important in Jehovah’s worship. For example, not long ago, a Meeting Workbook said:

Music can have a powerful influence on the mind and body. Singing is an important part of our worship of Jehovah.

In accordance with the importance of music in Jehovah’s worship, Mandarin field language learners used to have available to them official material from the organization containing musical notation with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) in the lyrics. However, perhaps at least partially because of the technical difficulty and costliness of producing material with musical notation and both Chinese characters and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) in the lyrics, as of this writing, there is no official material currently available from the organization that shows Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and musical notation on the same page or screen.

Screenshot of Sis. Margarita Königer and others using official _Pīnyīn_ _Sing to Jehovah_ songbooks with musical notation

A screenshot from an official video, of Sis. Margarita Königer and others using official Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Sing to Jehovah songbooks with musical notation

The organization continues to publish official songbook material for different languages in general that contains musical notation, so it evidently still considers musical notation to generally be worthwhile to produce. It continues to produce official material for the current songbook that uses musical notation along with lyrics rendered only in Chinese characters, without Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), and it has even produced official material that uses jiǎnpǔ (jiǎn·pǔ simple · {register or record for reference → [musical notation]} → [numbered musical notation] 简谱 簡譜) (a kind of musical notation also known as numbered musical notation) and Chinese characters.

For those who find it helpful in their Mandarin field activities to put musical notation together with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), the unofficial Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) exists and is continuing to be improved. As shown in the screenshot near the beginning of this post, this resource aids Mandarin field language learners by breaking with tradition and featuring lyrics in the musical notation that are only in relatively large-print Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) by default—characters are relegated to Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus “flashcards” that are added as time allows.

Unlike the traditionally-used but unnecessarily extraordinarily complex characters that need to be accompanied by Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) before many are able to read them, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) itself is a simple, elegant alphabetical full writing system for Mandarin that is easy to learn and remember. Also, it is no harder to typeset than other alphabetical writing systems with diacritics, such as the writing systems now used for French, Czech, Vietnamese, etc.*

In its Tips: section at the bottom of its home page, the “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource contains these links that some may find helpful:

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the “Sing Out Joyfully” book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the “Sing Out Joyfully” book is:

More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material based on the Mandarin “Sing Out Joyfully” book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.

 

* Thanks to ongoing advancements in personal computing hardware and software, producing material that contains things like musical notation and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text at reasonable cost is quicker and easier than ever. At this time, production of the musical notation in the “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) resource begins in free open source software called MuseScore Studio, running on a Mac. Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text for the lyrics in the musical notation is entered using macOS’s ABC – Extended input source (keyboard layout). (Just using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text only here simplifies things so much compared to having to somehow input characters with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) ruby text!) When it’s ready, the musical notation for a song is exported from MuseScore Studio into SVG format, which is a plain text format that allows for the inclusion of links that activate Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus flashcards on webpages. The coding for the SVG links is currently done using the text editor BBEdit, in which editing large text files is quite performant. For Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material production in general, my current favourite tool is Nova, but such web material can be produced in any application suitable for web development, such as Visual Studio Code, etc. ^

Categories
Culture Experiences History Language Learning Science Theocratic

zháole huǒ

zháole huǒ ((zháo·le {having caught} · {to completion} 着了 著了) (huǒ fire 火) → [having caught fire; burning; being on fire]) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

A few years back, I wrote up a brief web page listing reasons for producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), etc. material for the Imitate (ia) book. Some, especially some who grew up in the West, may have felt that this book is made up of “just stories”, and ones that they were already quite familiar with, at that. However, we must remember that Chinese Bible students may often have a different perspective regarding the Bible accounts that are made to come to life in the Imitate book. As that web page said:

  • Many Chinese people in the world have not been exposed to Bible accounts the way many Westerners have.
  • Also, I have heard that some, perhaps many, Chinese Bible students tend to approach their Bible studies like intellectual exercises for accumulating chōuxiàng (abstract) head knowledge as if for a school exam, rather than as training for their hearts for their own real lives.

Later, the web page touches on how some of the real-world benefits of good storytelling like that found in the Imitate book involve empathy:

  • …
    • The actress Natalie Portman once said, “I love acting. I think it’s the most amazing thing to be able to do. Your job is practicing empathy. You walk down the street imagining every person’s life.”
  • The Imitate book helps build Bible students’ empathy towards Bible characters, which in turn helps Bible students realize that others would feel empathy towards them as well if they imitated these Bible characters—not everyone will just think they’re crazy, like many worldly friends or family members might think.

While even fictional stories can have the benefits described in the links and the quote above, true stories from the Bible can have even greater benefits, including spiritual ones.

Besides the Imitate book, another book from Jehovah’s organization that relates Bible accounts is the Learn From the Bible (lfb) book. The letter from the Governing Body in this book says that, similarly to the Imitate book, the Learn From the Bible book also “brings the Bible accounts to life and captures the feelings of those depicted”, while, unlike the Imitate book, it “tells the story of the human family from creation onward”. While the Learn From the Bible book is especially suitable for children, the letter from the Governing Body in this book says that “it can also be used to help adults who desire to learn more about the Bible”. So, it would be good to consider on this blog some of the expressions used in the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book.

On Fire 🔥

This week’s MEotW, “zháole huǒ ((zháo·le {having caught} · {to completion} 着了 著了) (huǒ fire 火) → [having caught fire; burning; being on fire])”, appears in the first paragraph of Lesson 18 of the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book, which is entitled “Ránshāo (Rán·shāo Ignited · {to Be Burning} 燃烧 燃燒) de (’s 的) Jīngjí‐Cóng ((Jīng·jí Brambles · Thorns 荆棘 荊棘)‐(Cóng Clump 丛 叢) → [Bush])” (“The Burning Bush”):

English:

A thornbush was on fire, but it was not burning up!

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Móxī (Moses 摩西) kànjian (kàn·jian {looked at} · {to be seeing} → [saw] 看见 看見) jīngjí‐cóng ((jīng·jí brambles · thorns 荆棘 荊棘)‐(cóng clump 丛 叢) → [bush]) zháole huǒ ((zháo·le {having caught} · {to completion} 着了 著了) (huǒ fire 火) → [being on fire]), dàn (but 但) yìzhí (yì·zhí one · {being straight} → [all the while] 一直) méiyǒu (méi·yǒu (it) not · {was having → [was]} → [(it) was not] 没有 沒有) shāodiào (shāo·diào {being burned} · {to be falling → [up]} 烧掉 燒掉).

The Mandarin Learn From the Bible book here uses “zháole huǒ ((zháo·le {having caught} · {to completion} 着了 著了) (huǒ fire 火) → [having caught fire; burning; being on fire])” to correspond with the English expression “on fire”. “Zháole huǒ ((zháo·le {having caught} · {to completion} 着了 著了) (huǒ fire 火) → [having caught fire; burning; being on fire])” is the past participle of “zháohuǒ (zháo·huǒ catch; ignite; light · fire 着火 著火)”, which corresponds to “catch fire” in English.

Morphemic Breakdown

Going in reverse order, the “huǒ (fire [→ [fiery anger/temper | get fiery with anger]] | fiery; flaming 火)” in “zháole huǒ ((zháo·le {having caught} · {to completion} 着了 著了) (huǒ fire 火) → [having caught fire; burning; being on fire])” is a well-known expression that means “fire”. As for “le (-ed | {to completion} | [(at the end of a phrase/sentence) indicates a change] 了)”, when it’s used as it is in this week’s MEotW, it’s considered an aspect marker, as was discussed extensively in the MEotW post for “jiéle hūn ((jié·le {tied (a knot of)} · {to completion} 结了 結了) (hūn marrying → [marriage] 婚) → [[got] married])”. That brings us to “zháo ({touch; come in contact with} [→ [feel; be affected by]] | {catch; ignite; light (fire)}; burn | {hitting the mark}; accomplishing; succeeding 着 著)”, the pronunciation and meaning of which are obvious in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), but not so much when one just sees “着” (Simplified) or “著” (Traditional), the characters used to write it.

The Many Faces of “着/著”

According to the dictionaries loaded in my Pleco app, the characters “着/著” can represent 5 different expressions, each with its own pronunciation and set of meanings:

  • zhāo – add; put in | measure word for tricks, devices, moves in chess or martial arts, etc.
  • zháo – touch; come in contact with [→ [feel; be affected by]] | catch; ignite; light (fire); burn | hitting the mark; accomplishing; succeeding (This is the one used in this week’s MEotW.)
  • zhe – being (indicating continuing progress/state)
  • zhù – prominent; outstanding | book; work
  • zhuó – apply | put on/wear (clothes)

While advocates of characters complain about the homophones (different words with the same pronunciation) in Mandarin that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) would write the same way, the above illustrates the corresponding problem of homographs (different words that are written the same way) that plagues the characters.

Don’t Fall For the FUD!

How can we deal with homophones and homographs? For both of these contrasting linguistic challenges, the best solution is that which is used in speech, the original, primary aspect of human language, as created by Jehovah God: Use sufficient clarifying context. Contrary to the unjustified FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) spread by many advocates of characters, many millions of people have been speaking modern Mandarin to each other for decades, homophones and all, and because people have learned to use sufficient clarifying context when speaking it, it’s been fine! Similarly, so long as one gives oneself a chance to get used to it, using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) to write Mandarin is also fine, since Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is just a simple way to represent Mandarin speech.

Of course, if one has a poor understanding of Mandarin speech, then one will thus also have a poor understanding of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). Unfortunately, experience has shown that Mandarin learners who just go along with traditional imperfect human culture and focus on the visible, visually elaborate characters often end up neglecting invisible Mandarin speech. The thing is, though, according to both the science of linguistics and the Bible itself, speech is actually the primary aspect of human language, and no matter how exceptional worldly Chinese people may think they are, that applies to Mandarin and all the other Chinese languages as well.—1 Corinthians 14:8–11.

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Learn From the Bible book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Learn From the Bible book is:

More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material based on the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.

Categories
Culture History Language Learning Names Technology

jiǎntǐ‐zì

jiǎntǐ (jiǎn·tǐ simplified · {body → [style] → [typeface; font]} → [simplified Chinese] 简体 簡體)‐zì (characters 字) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[This is a reposting of a post that was originally posted on December 7, 2020. I took the opportunity to flesh out the original post and this repost with additional material.]

For a long, long, long time, Chinese characters were just Chinese characters. Then, in 1956, the Communist government of mainland China issued what came to be known as the First Chinese Character Simplification Scheme (a second round of Chinese character simplification was later attempted and ultimately rescinded), and official simplified Chinese characters came into the world. (Some characters had been unofficially simplified and used for various purposes, both everyday and artistic, before that.)

On the matter of what simplified Chinese characters are called in Mandarin, Wikipedia provides this summary:

Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above [(简化字; jiǎnhuàzì)[source]] or colloquially (简体字; jiǎntǐzì). In its broadest sense, the latter term refers to all characters that have undergone simplifications of character “structure” or “body”[source], some of which have existed for millennia alongside regular, more complicated forms. On the other hand, the official name refers to the modern systematically simplified character set, which (as stated by then-Chairman Mao Zedong in 1952) includes not only structural simplification but also substantial reduction in the total number of standardized Chinese characters.[source]

For reference, this is the term used on jw.org when referring to Mandarin written using simplified Chinese characters:

jw.org referring to Mandarin written using simplified Chinese characters

jw.org refers to simplified Chinese characters as “jiǎntǐ (jiǎn·tǐ simplified · {body → [style] → [typeface; font]} → [simplified Chinese] 简体 簡體)” characters.

The Great Simplified vs. Traditional Debate

While it seems obvious that simpler is generally better, there is actually much, much debate about the pros and cons of simplified characters vs. traditional characters, as discussed in these articles:

The following posts summarize how many feel about traditional and simplified characters:

Standards and Compromises

While the simplified characters themselves are indeed easier to learn and remember compared to the traditional characters, for many, they have become another set of characters in addition to the traditional characters that has to be learned and remembered. (There is, at least, some overlap between the two systems. Where do they overlap? That is yet more information that has to be learned and remembered…) And while simplified characters have been simplified, they are still characters, and characters are inherently extraordinarily complex and hard to learn and remember.

xkcd: Standards

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Licence logo Randall Munroe [source]

The simplified characters became a new standard that many have had to learn in addition to that of the traditional characters.

While Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is also a different system to be learned and remembered, it is in a whole different league compared to any system of Chinese characters when it comes to ease of learning and remembering. One of the scholars who helped create Hangul (or Hankul), the Korean alphabet, said of it: “The wise can learn it in one morning, and even the unwise can learn it in ten days.” Being also a phonetic alphabet, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) can be reasonably said to be in the same ballpark (with the added advantage that the Latin alphabet letters used in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) are already familiar to many people)—downright revolutionary compared to the years (decades?) required to learn even simplified characters.

Simplified characters are thus a compromise that mainland China, Singapore, etc. have settled on—simpler than traditional characters, but perhaps thus not as good at being characters. Meanwhile, they are still characters, still having many of the complexities and vagaries of characters. They fall short of the fundamental reform envisioned by Máo Zédōng ((Máo Hair (surname) 毛) (Zé·dōng Marsh · East 泽东 澤東) (the founder of the People’s Republic of China)) (Wikipedia article), Lǔ Xùn ((Lǔ Stupid; Rash (surname) 鲁 魯) (Xùn Fast; Quick; Swift 迅) (pen name of Zhōu Shùrén, the greatest Chinese writer of the 20th cent. and a strong advocate of alphabetic writing)) (Wikipedia article), and others, that would have involved eventually moving on from any kind of characters to alphabetic writing.

Letter from Máo Zédōng endorsing a transition from Chinese characters to alphabetic writing

A letter written by Máo Zédōng ((Máo Hair (surname) 毛) (Zé·dōng Marsh · East 泽东 澤東) (the founder of the People’s Republic of China)) endorsing “a basic reform” involving a transition from Chinese characters to alphabetic writing1

 

1. John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1984), p. ii. ^