{"id":6868,"date":"2025-09-13T23:59:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T06:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/meotw\/?p=6868"},"modified":"2025-09-25T11:19:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T18:19:05","slug":"hanzi-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/meotw\/2025\/09\/13\/hanzi-2\/","title":{"rendered":"H\u00e0nz\u00ec"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3>\n\t\t\t<span onclick=\"plus(this)\">H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/span><span class=\"plusinfo a\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span> <span style=\"color: hsl(100, 85%, 40%);\"> \u2190 Tap\/click to show\/hide the \u201cflashcard\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n\n<p>[This is a reposting of a <a href=\"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/meotw\/2020\/11\/23\/hanzi\/\" title=\"H\u00e0nz\u00ec - Mandarin Expression of the Week\">post<\/a> that was originally posted on November 23, 2020. It discusses how, in the big picture, we Mandarin field language learners should view Chinese characters, those seemingly essential but maddeningly difficult-to-learn-and-remember icons of worldly Chinese culture.]<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span>\u201d is what Chinese characters are called in Mandarin. Actually, \u201c<span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo a\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span>\u201d literally means \u201cHan characters\u201d, but as discussed in the MEotW <a href=\"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/meotw\/2020\/10\/05\/hanyu\/\" title=\"H\u00e0ny\u01d4 - Mandarin Expression of the Week\">post<\/a> on \u201c<span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0ny\u01d4<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7y\u01d4\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Language [\u2192 [(Modern Standard) Mandarin]]<\/span>\n\u6c49\u8bed\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u8a9e<\/span>)<\/span>\u201d, the Han are by far the largest ethnic group in China, and they are the dominant cultural force in China. Thus, Han characters are, in effect, Chinese characters.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/meotw\/img\/Hanzi.svg-2048px-white_bg.png\" alt=\"\u6f22\u5b57 \u6c49\u5b57\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/p>\n<p>Han culture has affected not only China, but also many of the surrounding nations. The words used by some of these nations to refer to  \u201cChinese characters\u201d are obvious echoes of \u201c<span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span>\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Japanese:<\/strong> <i>kanji<\/i><\/li>\n<li><strong>Korean:<\/strong> <i>Hanja<\/i><\/li>\n<li><strong>Vietnamese:<\/strong> <i>h\u00e1n t\u1ef1<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span> are still used a lot in modern Japanese writing. However, although <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span> used to be the dominant writing system in Korea and in Vietnam, those nations have moved on to mainly use alphabetic writing systems.<\/p>\n<h4>The Korean Connection<\/h4>\n<p>Regarding the situation in Korea, the <i>Awake!<\/i> article \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/wol.jw.org\/en\/wol\/d\/r1\/lp-e\/102002325\" title=\"Let\u2019s Try Writing in Hankul! \u2014 Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY\">Let\u2019s Try Writing in Hankul!<\/a>\u201d says:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>BEFORE Hankul [or Hangul] was created, the Korean language did not have its own script. For more than a thousand years, educated Koreans wrote their language using Chinese characters. Over the years, however, various attempts were made to devise a better writing system. But since all of them were based on Chinese characters, only the well-educated could use them.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026<\/p>\n<p>King Sejong spearheaded the creation of an alphabet that would both suit spoken Korean and be easy to learn and use.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, some scholars opposed Hankul, precisely because it was so easy to learn! They derisively called it <i>Amkul<\/i>, meaning \u201cwomen\u2019s letters.\u201d They disdained a system that could be learned even by women, who back then were not taught to read in the schools. This prejudice against Hankul persisted among upper-class Koreans for some time. In fact, more than 400 years elapsed before the Korean government declared that Hankul could be used in official documents.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h4>The Chinese Conundrum<\/h4>\n<p>How about the writing system situation in China itself? Do the Chinese languages need to be written using <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span>? Chinese traditionalists have influenced many people to assume so, but there is actually <em>no technical linguistic requirement<\/em> that any Chinese language be written using <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span>\u2014writing Chinese languages using <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span> is purely and merely a deeply embedded <em>tradition<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Proof that the use of <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span> is merely a tradition and not a technical requirement comes from the fact that <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>P\u012bny\u012bn<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(P\u012bn\u00b7y\u012bn\n<span class=\"mt\"><span class=\"lit\">{Piecing Together of} \u00b7 Sounds \u2192<\/span> [Pinyin]<\/span>\n\u62fc\u97f3)<\/span>, a phonetic alphabetic system designed by a Chinese government team, <a href=\"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/articles\/Pinyin_is_a_Good_Workable_Writing_System_On_Its_Own\u2014Article.html\" title=\"P\u012bny\u012bn is a Good, Workable Writing System On Its Own\">is a good, workable full writing system for Modern Standard Mandarin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Why has China held on to its traditional use of <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span> when other nations have moved on to alphabetic writing systems? As mentioned in the MEotW <a href=\"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/meotw\/2020\/10\/19\/zhongguo\/\" title=\"Zh\u014dnggu\u00f3 - Mandarin Expression of the Week\">post<\/a> on \u201c<span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>Zh\u014dnggu\u00f3<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(Zh\u014dng\u00b7gu\u00f3\n<span class=\"mt\">Central \u00b7 Nation \u2192 [China | Chinese]<\/span>\n\u4e2d\u56fd\n<span class=\"trad\">\u4e2d\u570b<\/span>)<\/span>\u201d,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Some wonder why China has held on to its archaic characters writing system instead of moving on to using a modern alphabetic writing system like almost every other nation does, even though outstanding native sons like <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>L\u01d4 X\u00f9n<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo a\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n((L\u01d4\n<span class=\"mt\">Stupid; Rash (<i>surname<\/i>)<\/span>\n\u9c81\n<span class=\"trad\">\u9b6f<\/span>)\n(X\u00f9n\n<span class=\"mt\">Fast; Quick; Swift<\/span>\n\u8fc5)\n<span class=\"mt\">(pen name of <i>Zh\u014du Sh\u00f9r\u00e9n<\/i>, the greatest Chinese writer of the 20th cent. and a strong advocate of alphabetic writing)<\/span>)<\/span> have advocated strongly for that. Perhaps the proud self-centredness of the only nation to name itself the centre of the world provides a clue\u2026.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>When the Communists took over China a few years after World War II, their <a href=\"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/articles\/Pinyin_Was_Plan_A\u2014Article.html\" title=\"P\u012bny\u012bn Was Plan A\">Plan A<\/a> for China\u2019s writing system situation actually did involve eventually moving on from the characters to an alphabetic writing system that would be developed, which turned out to be <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>P\u012bny\u012bn<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(P\u012bn\u00b7y\u012bn\n<span class=\"mt\"><span class=\"lit\">{Piecing Together of} \u00b7 Sounds \u2192<\/span> [Pinyin]<\/span>\n\u62fc\u97f3)<\/span>. However, the government needed the help of the people already educated in <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span>, and many of these people opposed this plan that they feared would involve leaving behind, or at least de-emphasizing, a cultural tradition that they were very proud of, that they had invested very much time and effort into mastering, and that gave them much prestige in the existing environment.<sup id=\"20250913c1\"><a href=\"#20250913n1\" title=\"Footnote 1\">1<\/a><\/sup> In other words, the pride and prejudice of those who had already been educated in the <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span> caused them to disparage and oppose the idea of a simpler alternative writing system, just as had been the case in Korea, as noted above. So, the simplification of the <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span> is the farthest China has gotten so far with regard to official writing system reform, and even that has only been achieved in the face of much <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Debate_on_traditional_and_simplified_Chinese_characters\" title=\"Debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters - Wikipedia\">criticism and opposition<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Chairman <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>M\u00e1o Z\u00e9d\u014dng<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo a\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n((M\u00e1o\n<span class=\"mt\">Hair (<i>surname<\/i>)<\/span>\n\u6bdb)\n(Z\u00e9\u00b7d\u014dng\n<span class=\"mt\">Marsh \u00b7 East<\/span>\n\u6cfd\u4e1c\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6fa4\u6771<\/span>)\n<span class=\"mt\">(the founder of the People\u2019s Republic of China)<\/span>)<\/span> (<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mao_Zedong\" title=\"Mao Zedong - Wikipedia\">Wikipedia article<\/a>) himself <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pinyin.info\/readings\/defrancis\/chinese_writing_reform.html\" title=\"Prospects for Chinese Writing Reform\">supported<\/a> continuing to move on, from simplification of the characters to actually adopting <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>P\u012bny\u012bn<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(P\u012bn\u00b7y\u012bn\n<span class=\"mt\"><span class=\"lit\">{Piecing Together of} \u00b7 Sounds \u2192<\/span> [Pinyin]<\/span>\n\u62fc\u97f3)<\/span> as a writing system. In a letter to an old schoolmate, he wrote:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2026Pinyin writing is a form of writing that is relatively convenient. Chinese characters are too complicated and difficult. At present we are only engaged in reform along the lines of simplification, but some day in the future we must inevitably carry out a basic reform.<sup id=\"20250913c2\"><a href=\"#20250913n2\" title=\"Footnote 2\">2<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/meotw\/img\/Mao-basic-reform-letter-1200-60.jpg\" alt=\"Letter from Mao endorsing a transition from Chinese characters to alphabetic writing\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\">(The above picture is from near the beginning of the book <a href='https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Chinese-Language-Fact-Fantasy\/dp\/0824810686\/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&#038;keywords=john+defrancis&#038;qid=1586994573&#038;sr=8-3' title='Amazon.com: The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy (9780824810689): DeFrancis, John: Books'><i>The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy<\/i><\/a>, by John DeFrancis.)<\/p>\n<p>While obviously what <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>M\u00e1o<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n((M\u00e1o\n<span class=\"mt\">Hair (<i>surname<\/i>)<\/span>\n\u6bdb)\n<span class=\"mt\">(abbr. for <i>M\u00e1o Z\u00e9d\u014dng<\/i>, the founder of the People\u2019s Republic of China)<\/span>)<\/span> foresaw regarding a writing system \u201cbasic reform\u201d in China has not yet come true, American <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sinology\" title=\"Sinology - Wikipedia\">sinologist<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.upenn.edu\/people\/associated-faculty\/victor-h-mair\" title=\"Victor H. Mair | Penn Arts &amp; Sciences Department of History\">University of Pennsylvania Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Victor_H._Mair\" title=\"Victor H. Mair - Wikipedia\">Victor H. Mair<\/a> wrote in a <a href=\"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=42080\" title=\"Language Log \u00bb The actuality of emerging digraphia\">blog post<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>So, those who are in favor of HP <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>[H\u00e0ny\u01d4<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7y\u01d4\n<span class=\"mt\"><span class=\"lit\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Language \u2192<\/span> [(Modern Standard) Mandarin]<\/span>\n\u6c49\u8bed\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u8a9e<\/span>)<\/span>\n\n<span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>P\u012bny\u012bn<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(P\u012bn\u00b7y\u012bn\n<span class=\"mt\"><span class=\"lit\">{Piecing Together of} \u00b7 Sounds \u2192<\/span> [Pinyin]<\/span>\n\u62fc\u97f3)<\/span><i>]<\/i> don&#8217;t need to be concerned, and those who are opposed to HP don&#8217;t need to be frightened.  HP is ineluctably playing a greater and greater role in the educational, cultural, social, political, and every other aspect of the lives of Chinese citizens, and this is occurring without regard to anyone pushing it as a governmental program.  It is happening because of the wishes of those who actually use it for a wide variety of helpful purposes.<\/p>\n<p>Digraphia [the use of more than one writing system for the same language, in this case the use of both <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span> and <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>P\u012bny\u012bn<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(P\u012bn\u00b7y\u012bn\n<span class=\"mt\"><span class=\"lit\">{Piecing Together of} \u00b7 Sounds \u2192<\/span> [Pinyin]<\/span>\n\u62fc\u97f3)<\/span> for writing Modern Standard Mandarin] is emerging before our very eyes, enabling people to use the alphabet and the characters for whatever purposes they deem suitable.  Nobody needs to take a vote or carry out a survey for this to happen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h4>Tourists or Missionaries?<\/h4>\n<p>Regardless of how worldly Chinese people view the <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span>, how should we dedicated Mandarin field language-learners view them? It would be easy to fall back on the commonly accepted view, the tourist\u2019s view, that the <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span> are an integral and fascinating part of China\u2019s precious cultural heritage that we should duly respect and even heap adulation upon.<\/p>\n<p>However, as Mandarin field language-learners, we are not in the Mandarin field to be <a href=\"http:\/\/tiandi.info\/blog\/missionaries-and-tourists.html\" title=\"Missionaries and Tourists - Blog - tiandi.info\"><em>tourists<\/em><\/a> just enjoying the exotic foreign culture. On the contrary, we must be more like <a href=\"http:\/\/tiandi.info\/blog\/missionaries-and-tourists.html\" title=\"Missionaries and Tourists - Blog - tiandi.info\"><em>missionaries<\/em><\/a> or spiritual rescue workers involved in an urgent life-saving work, because lives are indeed involved. As ones involved in an urgent, life-saving work, we need tools, technologies, and systems that efficiently and effectively help us to get this work done without wasting time and effort when people\u2019s everlasting lives are at stake. From this sober and pragmatic angle, the extraordinarily difficult-to-learn-and-remember <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span> are far from ideal. Thus, while there is obviously value in learning as many <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span> as one is reasonably able to, it is fortunate that <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>P\u012bny\u012bn<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(P\u012bn\u00b7y\u012bn\n<span class=\"mt\"><span class=\"lit\">{Piecing Together of} \u00b7 Sounds \u2192<\/span> [Pinyin]<\/span>\n\u62fc\u97f3)<\/span> exists and is available as a simple, effective alternative writing system for Mandarin, for the many times when it is not necessary to use <span onclick=\"plus(this)\"><i>H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/i><\/span><span class=\"plusinfo\" onclick=\"minus(this)\">\n(H\u00e0n\u00b7z\u00ec\n<span class=\"mt\">{Han (Chinese)} \u00b7 Characters<\/span>\n\u6c49\u5b57\n<span class=\"trad\">\u6f22\u5b57<\/span>)<\/span>.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"border-top: solid 1px; line-height: .146em; margin-top: 2em; width: 25%\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span id=\"20250913n1\" style=\"font-size: .8em\">1. John DeFrancis, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Chinese-Language-Fact-Fantasy\/dp\/0824810686\/\" title=\"Amazon.com: The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy (9780824810689): DeFrancis, John: Books\"><i>The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy<\/i><\/a> (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1984), p. 258.&nbsp;<a href=\"#20250913c1\" title=\"Return to main text\">^<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span id=\"20250913n2\" style=\"font-size: .8em\">2. Ibid., p. 295.&nbsp;<a href=\"#20250913c2\" title=\"Return to main text\">^<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[This is a reposting of a post that was originally posted on November 23, 2020. It discusses how, in the big picture, we Mandarin field language learners should view Chinese characters, those seemingly essential but maddeningly difficult-to-learn-and-remember icons of worldly Chinese culture.] is what Chinese characters are called in Mandarin. Actually, literally means \u201cHan characters\u201d, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,98,19,16,108],"tags":[342,240,25,127,390,351,195,575,31,576,18,165,97,23,34,264,29,199,236,265,568,99,89,266,296,30,417,497,413,126],"class_list":["post-6868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-history","category-language-learning","category-names","category-technology","tag-alphabetic-writing","tag-awake","tag-chinese-characters","tag-digraphia","tag-glamourization-of-characters","tag-hangul","tag-japan","tag-japanese","tag-john-defrancis","tag-korea","tag-korean","tag-language-log","tag-linguistics","tag-lu-xun","tag-mao-zedong","tag-missionaries","tag-pinyin","tag-pinyin-was-plan-a","tag-pride","tag-rescue-workers","tag-simplified-characters","tag-sinocentrism","tag-the-chinese-language-fact-and-fantasy","tag-tourists","tag-tradition","tag-victor-h-mair","tag-vietnam","tag-vietnamese","tag-vietnamese-alphabet","tag-writing-systems"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>H\u00e0nz\u00ec - Mandarin Expression of the Week<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/troubadourworks.com\/tiandi\/meotw\/2025\/09\/13\/hanzi-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"H\u00e0nz\u00ec - Mandarin Expression of the Week\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[This is a reposting of a post that was originally posted on November 23, 2020. 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