Page:The Chinese language and how to learn it.djvu/28

10 curves, as on the left side of the above character, which is formed of six strokes, in the following order:



The above brief description will, it is hoped, enable the reader to understand something of the form and structure of this marvellous script, which has been for ages past, and still continues to be, the medium of communication between a vast proportion of the human race. In its present form it is read and understood, not only throughout the whole dominions of an Empire embracing&mdash;to take the popular estimate&mdash;three hundred and sixty millions of human beings, but it is also extensively used in adjacent kingdoms. In Korea, the Chinese Classics are studied in all the schools and exert no inconsiderable influence on the character of the nation, while Chinese is the common vehicle of official correspondence; in the Loochoo Islands many of the inhabitants read it fluently; in Tonking a knowledge of it is possessed by the educated classes; while in Japan it still constitutes the basis of the written language. Ever since the days of Confucius it has practically remained unchanged in construction, and the style of books published two thousand years ago differs little from the written language of the present day. It is hardly to be wondered at that so ancient and so widely diffused a script should be an object of veneration to the Chinese scholar, who regards it, from its universality and its adaptability to any system of speech, as vastly superior to all others. He admires it not less for its intrinsic beauty and excellence than for the vast stores of knowledge and wisdom which he considers it to embrace. To many thoughtful Chinese it is a matter of surprise that this script has not been adopted as a common medium of communication throughout the world. "Attach," they say, "what sound or pronunciation to the character you like, the meaning will still remain invariable. Why multiply scripts and invent complicated systems when you have ready to hand a language free from grammatical intricacies, a language that has stood the test of ages, and in which it has been found that no changes were necessary or desirable? It can keep pace with modern requirements, for when