汉字--从甲骨文到计算机(4)

Type printing.

Around 1041--1048, Bi Sheng, a commoner in the Song Dynasty, invented type printing based on the principle of seals. Records on the invention of type printing by Bi Sheng in Meng Xi Bi Tan (Note of SHEN kuo)

Portrait of Bi Sheng.

Process of clay-type printing.

How to make the printing type: mold some small clay pieces, stamp letters on them, bake until hard, and then arrange them in an iron case.

Around 1295—1300, Wang Zhen invented wooden type printing, and a Chinese-friendly type arranging system with evolving cases. Portrait of Wang Zhen.

Various forms of metal type were also invented afterwards, enriching printing technologies immensely.

Wang Zhen’s type-case (model)

Bi Sheng’s clay types (replica)

Chinese Characters and Unity of China.

The standardization of Chinese script has helped promote the economic, cultural exchange and development within China, thus enhancing the overall power of the nation. This is a partial rubbing of Aotun Liangbi Banquet Stele, a bilingual stele inscription of Chinese and Nuchen (ancestors of the Manchu).

Like the culture itself, the scripts of the Chinese have long interacted with other ethnic groups, thus speeding up the unity of the Chinese nation. Qing palace tablets in Manchu and Chinese.

Porcelain bottles with Chinese and Xixia scripts.

A golden seal with Chinese, Manchu and Tibetan, issued by the Qing government to Dalai Lama.

Rubbings from Mogao Grottoes, with six scripts including Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetan and Manchu (Yuan Dynasty).

Imperial seal with Chinese and Manchu scripts, Qing Dynasty.

Two-sided Jin scripture, in Chinese and Huihu (ancient Uygur) scripts.

Bilingual book in Chinese and Phags-pa (a branch of Mongolian) scripts.

Buddhist scriptures written by Yong Rong in Chinese and Manchu scripts (Qing Dynasty).

Chinese Characters and Chinese Books.

Characters are the basic elements of books in Chinese. They not only reveal the stories within, but also affect how the books will look.

The Chinese characters have a life beyond time and place. A moderately educated Chinese today can easily understand a Chinese book written thousands of years ago. Youngsters reading ancient books in the library.

Chinese books with both horizontal and vertical writing.

Chinese books with both horizontal and vertical printing.

Chinese books, left-bound and right-bound.

Chinese books in diverse forms (stringed slips, scroll, folded, sewn)

Chinese Characters and Intelligence

An experiment was carried out by American scientists in 1971 on eight students with reading difficulties. After learning the English pronunciations of 30 Chinese characters, the children easily recognized and memorized the characters. Research shows that Chinese characters can stimulate both right-brain and left-brain thinking.

Experiment results published in Science in 1971.

Unit 6. Chinese script and computers

The birth of the computer in the mid-20th century ushered in an information age for the world. As the computer’s basic calculation system is binary, some hold that its inventor, Leibniz, was inspired by the Chinese Eight Diagrams. Portrait of Leibniz.

The input of Chinese can be faster than that of English, thanks to the unique function of the Chinese system to find relevant words quickly.

Major Chinese input systems.

The first Chinese typesetting system, FOUNDER, shifted the Chinese printing from an era of molten lead and fire to one of light and electricity.

Computers can make Chinese characters beautiful, too.

The computer is making the learning and usage of Chinese characters. Click away and we can write perfectly shaped characters now.

The vast multitude of Chinese books are now stored in digital libraries. Computer science has enabled cultures based in Chinese to spread on an unprecedented scale.

Reading from the Web.

The scientific and artistic aspects of Chinese script are now getting more and more attention globally. As new trends of voice-control technologies emerge, the advantages of Chinese will be more prominent. On the Internet, various messages in Chinese are transmitted in seconds, changing the world day by day.

In early 20th century, the Chinese character writing entered into a brand new era of machinery, thanks to the invention of the Chinese typewriters.