In this useful volume, Fred Fang-yu Wang presents materials designed to help solve an often vexing problem for students of Chinese: how to recognize and write handwritten or cursive-style forms of Chinese characters. Such forms are not usually taught in the regular language programs in schools and colleges. Yet they are constantly used by Chinese in informal communications, notes, letters, manuscripts, diaries, and the like. In fact, Chinese seldom write anything in printed-form characters, since cursive forms are generally employed for daily use. Such forms are as frequently seen in Chinese culture as the handwritten forms seen daily in the Western environment. A person unfamilar with the cursive forms will usually find it difficult to read handwritten Chinese despite a thorough knowledge of the printed form. Thus the value of this book. This book teaches students to recognize the cursive versions of 300 basic, frequently-used characters in Chinese, radical by radical. In doing so, it fills a crucial gap in the bridge between academic learning and real-life competence.
The items bear minimal signs of past use, such as light scratches or memories in the form of markings. These signs of wear give the items a charming character and tell stories of their previous owners, while not affecting their functionality.
