8 ON THE CHINESE SYSTEM OF WRITING. 



The Chinese, therefore, made them adopt their characters, and as thej had for 

 many ideas no words, introduced their own to make up their deficiency. 



3d. By this process Chinese books became the literature of all the above 

 named countries, and has remained so, exclusively, until this very day. Go- 

 vernment availed itself of these characters to communicate its commands to 

 the people; authors wrote in them, and every man of education studied the 

 same with all the ardour of a native Chinese. 



4th. Not only the works published by authors of those respective nations in 

 the Chinese character, but every other work introduced from China, are consi- 

 dered as a national property, which they share with other countries. Though 

 well aware that the Chinese character was not of their invention, yet so many 

 centuries have now elapsed since it was first made known, that they have 

 ceased to view it as a foreign idiom. 



5th. All the nations that adopted this mode of writing speak a language 

 more or less distinct from the Chinese written idiom; and we may also add, 

 that the oral medium of all the dialects spoken in China is very distinct from 

 the language of books. This applies to all dialects, the Mandarin included, 

 though the latter deviates less from the books written in a colloquial style. 

 The Chinese, therefore, have to learn the meaning of the characters from 

 teachers, who explain them in the dialect spoken amongst the people. The 

 same is the case, in a greater measure, with the nations who adopted the Chi- 

 nese character; few of the sounds with which they read them are current in 

 conversation. Though a Cochinchinese reads Rg dow, and also calls it 

 dorv, the head — a Japanese reads it tsze, and calls it Icasira. A Fo-keen man 

 reads it tow, and calls it tow Jcak, &c., whilst a Corean, in many instances, adds 

 the native appellation to the sound of the Chinese character, 



6th. This is very clear, that the dialects spoken by the nations conversant 

 with the Chinese character are very distinct from the idiom of the central 

 kingdom. Both the Coreans, as well as the Japanese, have invented a sylla- 

 bary, with which they write their own language, whilst every important busi- 

 ness is transacted by means of the Chinese character. The Cochinchinese 

 have no such aid, bnt use, occasionally, the Chinese character in a contracted 

 form, without any reference to its meaning, merely to express sound. 



7th. Though it has been again and again said that sound was not inherent 

 in the Chinese character, this axiom requires considerable modifications. A 



