Why the distinction between 粤 and 越? why two hanzi?
Why the distinction between 粤 and 越？ I’ve read that Han dynasty conquered the Baiyue, and Yue Chinese evolved over time instead. The name seems …
Is it true that the Chinese character for “thunderstorm” has 51 strokes and is pronounced “ping”?
You are off by one stroke – the actual number is 52. And it’s peng, not ping. 🙂 No, I am not being cheeky. This …
Do the people in China text in English or Chinese characters?
Do the French text in English or French? Do the Japanese text in English or Japanese? Of course most people in China text in their …
How many Chinese characters can a foreign-language student expect to learn in one year?
First some fun facts: I can read Chinese perfectly, but writing is difficult, I don’t remember the details of many characters, especially the low frequency …
薯 is a Chinese character related to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Can you find the connection?
薯 is a Chinese character that appeared some time around the 6th century CE. By that time, the Roman emperor Theodosius I had closed all …
Is there any writing system harder than Hanzi?
Tangut Oh, you thought hanzi was bad? Tangut script, also known as the Western Xia script (西夏文), is a hanzi-inspired artificial script designed by Yeli …
What are some Chinese characters that an English speaker might find humorous if explained to them?
How about this character? It looks like a face that is sad, tired, shocked, or embarrassed. In fact, it is used on chats and forums …
Can I use 豿 as an ultra traditional variant of 狗?
Can I use 豿 as an ultra traditional variant of 狗？ Not really. The original is 狗， as seen in 说文解字 the great etymological work, …