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A review by omnibozo22
The Chinese Typewriter: A History by Thomas S. Mullaney
5.0
Forty years ago I asked my Chinese history professor how the telegraph system worked in GMD era China. He didn't really know, despite being an expert in that era. I asked if they just used a limited vocabulary with a number for each word. He suspected that was the case, but didn't have a reference for it. This book provides the answer, which is deeply imbedded in the development of both technological and linguistic methods of transmitting the written Chinese language onto paper/screens.
Another question I had asked was about Lin Yutang. I had read one of his books, but had no feeling for why he had a mostly glowing reputation in the US. While this book did not directly answer that, I was surprised to learn that Lin had invented a very efficient style of typewriter that embodied a linguistic approach to the challenges, different from earlier, clunkier attempts. His design did not successfully move into the manufacturing stage, but it presaged a method followed by current computer basic typography in Chinese.
Continuing struggles over language reform evidenced themselves in the search for mechanical methods to print the language. This history intertwines those searches. I'm off now to see if Mullaney's promised book on Chinese computing systems has been published.
Another question I had asked was about Lin Yutang. I had read one of his books, but had no feeling for why he had a mostly glowing reputation in the US. While this book did not directly answer that, I was surprised to learn that Lin had invented a very efficient style of typewriter that embodied a linguistic approach to the challenges, different from earlier, clunkier attempts. His design did not successfully move into the manufacturing stage, but it presaged a method followed by current computer basic typography in Chinese.
Continuing struggles over language reform evidenced themselves in the search for mechanical methods to print the language. This history intertwines those searches. I'm off now to see if Mullaney's promised book on Chinese computing systems has been published.