Chinese Cursive Script: An Introduction to Handwriting in Chinese (Far Eastern Publications Series) [Paperback]

Fred Fang-yu Wang (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0887100333 | ISBN-13: 978-0887100338 | Publication Date: March 11, 1958

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (March 11, 1958)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887100333
• ISBN-13: 978-0887100338
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,080,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique resource, November 24, 1999

By 

Sir Bowen (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Chinese Cursive Script: An Introduction to Handwriting in Chinese (Far Eastern Publications Series) (Paperback)

When I first began to learn Mandarin, Fred Fang-yu Wang's books got me going quicker than I would have ever expected. They weren't the newest materials, but they were by far the most effective.

One of the last major hurdles for me was learning the Chinese cursive script. It's an essential skill, but I simply couldn't find any materials on it. I had checked with many teachers, and none could even suggest to me how to get started.

So when I stumbled across Mr. Wang's book on exactly this topic, I bought it immediately. It's every bit as effective as his other works, and is material that I simply have not seen anywhere else.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Principles of cursive Chinese writing for English speakers, October 27, 1998

By 

Mike Wright (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chinese Cursive Script: An Introduction to Handwriting in Chinese (Far Eastern Publications Series) (Paperback)

As far as I know, this is the only book that teaches English-speaking students to read cursive Chinese writing. I found it extremely effective when I first studied it back in 1965, and was very happy to find it still available here. (And I did buy a new copy.)

Unlike calligraphy manuals, it concentrates on basic principles and shows many alternative examples. It is very well organized, and most students will also be able to use it to learn to write cursive Chinese characters. The examples are practical, rather than arty, focussing mostly on pen styles.

Although it is based on the 300 characters of F. Wang's _Read Chinese_, which is no longer commonly used, these are likely to be among the first characters taught in any beginning Chinese course, and all of them are essential characters.

I believe that students of Japanese will also find this text useful, since the principles are the same as those used by Japanese writers. (I know of no equivalent text for teaching cursive Japanese writing to English speakers.)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent way to begin learning cursive, May 24, 2008

By 

F. J. Powell (Chester, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chinese Cursive Script: An Introduction to Handwriting in Chinese (Far Eastern Publications Series) (Paperback)

This new edition is a reprint of a 1958 book originally published by Far Eastern Publications. It's organized very well, and assumes that you know only about 300 bookprint (''kai shu) characters! It uses these 300 characters, starting with the most basic, moving to more complex strokes to teach you about cursive principles in writing the different components of characters. They give several variations in form for each character and also give you practice sentences to read.

The one drawback is that, being written in 1958, the characters are traditional (however 80% of the time, the cursive form derives from what we now called simplified characters). Also, ALL the chinese is handwritten, whether cursive or 'bookprint' (reminds you to be thankful for wonders of modern desktop computing and publishing!).

It even has a modest cursive stroke index so you can look up that squiggle that you have no idea how to decipher!