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Chinese’ or the ‘common language’ (putonghua) because it is the language of the central government, commerce, education, the media and so on. All children learn Mandarin at school, thus anyone with some education can speak and understand Mandarin. Mandarin Chinese is also the language taught and learned by foreigners. Learning Mandarin Chinese enables the visitor to China to communicate with educated people all over China.

      CHINESE CHARACTERS

      It is commonly believed that Chinese characters are composed of little pictures that represent ideas. While this may have been true in the early stages of the Chinese writing system, today less than 2 percent of Chinese characters are pictographic in nature. It is true, however, that there is no alphabet in Chinese and characters have to be memorized. This is the greatest challenge in learning Chinese, even for native speakers. Chinese children spend countless hours memorizing characters and practicing writing them. Although there are nearly 50,000 Chinese characters in the largest dictionaries, about 2,000 are commonly used by educated people.

      Most Chinese characters have a radical, which gives an indication of the meaning, and a phonetic component that gives an idea of how to pronounce it. Sometimes this phonetic component is an exact representation and sometimes an approximation. Here are some examples:

      河 This is the character for ‘river’ and is pronounced hé.

      The component on the left side of the character, the three dots (氵), are the radical and mean ‘water’. This indicates that this character (or word) has something to do with water. The component on the right side of the character (可) is the phonetic and is pronounced kě. As you can see, the vowel sound in this component is retained in the pronunciation of the word hé.

      湖 This is the character for ‘lake’ and is pronounced hú.

      As you can see, the component on the left is the water radical (氵), so we know this character has something to do with water. The phonetic component on the right is pronounced hú (胡), which is an exact match for the pronunciation of the word.

      THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WORD AND A CHARACTER

      All characters in Chinese are pronounced as a single syllable. Some words consist of a single character but most have two characters and occasionally three or more. Learning the characters, then, is only part of the job of learning Chinese. One must also learn word combinations in order to become literate. In a Chinese text, all characters are written equidistant apart. Traditionally, Chinese was written top to bottom and right to left. Nowadays, it is written like English, from top to bottom and left to write.

      Single character words:

      我 wǒ I, me

      书 shū book

      姜 jiāng ginger

      Multisyllabic words:

      老师 lǎo shī teacher

      书桌 shū zhuō desk

      筷子 kuài zi chopsticks

      Traditional Chinese writing tools: ink stone, brush stand and brushes.

      The Chinese character fo for 'Buddha'.

      CHINA’S MANY RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS

      There are two religious and philosophical traditions native to China: Confucianism and Taoism. Both have their beginnings in the 5th to 6th centuries BCE. Buddhism has also shaped Chinese culture. Elements of these are incorporated into folk religion and ancestor worship, which include respect for the forces of nature, ancestors, gods of human groups and figures from mythology.

      Confucianism is not only considered a religion and philosophy but also a worldview, social ethic, political ideology and scholarly tradition. Confucius (551–479 BCE) lived in a time of political turmoil, violence and social disintegration. He spent his life trying to persuade the leaders of the various kingdoms in China to try out his political reforms. These were really more about how to get along with others peacefully than about politics. To Confucius, politics meant moral persuasion. The core of Confucianism is thus humanistic, with particular emphasis on the importance of the family and social harmony. In particular, Confucian doctrine is based on the Five Relationships—reciprocal relationships that if adhered to bring peace and prosperity. Inferiors must be subject to superiors, but those superiors have a responsibility to care for their inferiors. The relationships emphasize respect by the younger for the older and by women for men. But there is a responsibility on both sides that are mutually beneficial.

      BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CONFUCIANISM

      Benevolence (ren) 仁

      Also described as human-heartedness, this carries the idea of being kind and respectful to others. The supreme moral achievement in life is excellence of character, to become a gentleman.

      The Gentleman (junzi) 君子

      The ultimate individual (‘superior person’) attains nobility through character rather than inheritance.

      Filial Piety (xiao)

      This refers to unquestioned loyalty and respect for elders, especially parents and grandparents.

      The character for filial piety (xiao).

      THE VALUE OF EDUCATION

      To Confucius, the purpose of government was not only to provide food and protection but also to educate. Education became a serious focus of Confucian thought. By 50 BCE, enrollment in the state university was 3,000, but by 1 CE all bureaucratic positions in the government were staffed by those with a Confucian education. In the year 58 CE, all government schools were required to make sacrifices to Confucius. Toward the end of the Han Dynasty, up to 30,000 students attended the Imperial University and a Confucian temple eventually stood in all of China’s 2,000 counties.

      The curriculum for a Confucian education comprised the Five Classics and Four Books (see pages 18–19). These nine books espoused Confucian thought and practices. The Five Classics are said to have been compiled by Confucius himself, whereas the Four Books were compiled by his disciples.

      This Confucian education system began in the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) and was in place until the early part of the 20th century. What this means is that anyone who was educated in China was thoroughly familiar with Confucian ideals and practices.

      THE FIVE CONFUCIAN RELATIONSHIPS

      Ruler to subject If a ruler is kind and cares about his subjects, the people, in turn, will be loyal.

      Father to son If a father cares for his son and treats him well, his son will be obedient and want to care for his father.

      Elder brother to younger brother If an elder brother treats his younger brother with kindness, the younger brother will respect the elder.

      Husband to wife If a husband takes care of his wife, she will, in turn, be loyal to him.

      Friend to friend Friends treat each other with mutual respect and kindness.

      Confucius believed that if we treat each other with respect and dignity, then everyone will benefit. He advocated self-cultivation. If you want to change society, you must begin by changing yourself. Your actions will then influence those around you and extend from your immediate community to the city, to the state and, eventually, to the whole country.

      TAOISM

      Taoist thought pervades Chinese society. At the core of Taoism, which links Confucian tradition with folk traditions, is a book regarded by many as scripture, the Dao De Jing (Tao

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