TOKYO (AFP) – As a schoolboy, Akihiro Matsumura spent hundreds of hours learning the intricate Chinese characters that make up a part of written Japanese. Now, the graduate student can rely on his ...

The French have a saying about incomprehensible communication. Americans say, “It’s Greek to me.” But the French say “C’est du chinois” — meaning, “It’s Chinese.” Chinese characters are so complex ...

Few things in Chinese culture are more widely misunderstood outside of China than the Chinese language. The Chinese write very differently from us and indeed from all other literate societies in today ...

Local calligrapher Xu Xiaodong writes Chinese character "biang" on a piece of paper of 100 square meters during a Writing "Biang" event held in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, ...

Is the Chinese writing system a sufficient reason on its own to guarantee that Mandarin will not become a global language like English? That’s what someone asked me after I discussed the prima facie ...

A participant writes Chinese character "biang" during a Writing "Biang" event held in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, April 13, 2014. Nearly 2,000 people took part in the event ...