INTRODUCTION

During the past sixty years or more, great efforts have been made by the intelligentsia in China towards the simplification of the language, and, with the abolition of many dialects, towards the standardization of the national tongue with the idea of a gradual reduction and final disappearance of illiteracy.Much indeed has been done, but in view of the immensity of the population and the complexity and profundity of the language itself, even the considerable achievement of the past decade can only be regarded as a first step on the long journey ahead.

First, as a prelude to this Analysis , a word must be said about learning the language.As a result of the great demand for knowledge of Chinese in recent years, there have been many complaints about the difficulties non Chinese have in learning it.But as far as I know, Chinese students in the past have made similar complaints about the difficulty of learning foreign languages.In fact, no language can be easy.Even English, a language so widely used that it has assumed an international importance nowadays, can by no means be described as easy, especially for us Chinese.Since every living language must be growing and changing all the time, it is difficult for anyone except an occasional great poet, prosaist, dramatist or philologist to justly say that he has a complete mastery and command of his own mother tongue.With the ancient languages such as Greek or Latin or Sanskrit, the case is even more burdensome.Even at the very first, the numerous inflections of nouns, conjugations of verbs, and, in Sanskrit, the lengthy compounds carry the student into deep waters.

Within the Indo-European family the diverse tongues have still somehow an affinity to each other, though there was in the past actually no one Indo-German language in existence.In their fundamental structure, they all have a phonetic system, a grammar and a syntax, all comparable to well-hewn, well-paved paths for travellers to follow.English and French are examples of this; they are so similar to each other that between them there are approximately 6,000 words more or less alike, with only slight differences of spelling or meaning, as they are mostly of a common Latin origin.Naturally an Englishman can learn French easily, and vice versa, especially as both are popular and commonly used nowadays.About one hundred and thirty million people in the world use French as an official language, a fact reminiscent of its glorious past when, beginning in the seventeenth century, it was used chiefly in the diplomatic as well as in high cultural fields.But the tendency of the present day is more and more towards the expansion and predominance of English.Apart from Mandarin Chinese, English is now spoken as a first language by more people than any other language in the world, according to the most recent statistics.

Yet Chinese, though now used by the largest population of the world, is still confined within the boundaries of its realm.As opposed to any language of the Indo-European family, Chinese has neither an alphabet nor any written grammar.In fact everything about it is different.Yet no one can deny that it is a language of high culture with a history of nearly 5,000 years, and it is a living one still.Let us then sensibly ask: could it have lasted so long and been so widely used if it were actually so difficult to learn?

The difficulties arise for many reasons.The problem is a very complicated one, and in the end it is even connected with our modern educational system in general.Usually as a second language it is not learned in the right way.Psychologically speaking, the difficulty is not so much with the language itself as with our own mental attitude.We are all in a sense bound by our prejudices and habits, and figuratively speaking, one may say that there is scarcely anyone who can empty himself like a vessel of its contents for the new liquid to be poured in.A child learns things more readily than an adult because he is empty or free.If that upper chamber is crowded or clouded, how can light shine upon it from outside or any ray shine forth from within?

Moreover, society in modern times has changed and life has become much busier.We have neither the leisure nor the patience to dive deep and immerse ourselves in the cultural atmosphere of another land, even when we have partially learned its language; and what is learned apart from its cultural context can easily be lost.The blissful olive tree, a gift from Athene, begins to bear fruit only thirty years after planting, yet it yields fruit for a hundred years before it withers away.In seeking knowledge in general, we are nowadays often too anxious, if not too ambitious, for its fruits; and we want to hasten the process of acquiring it, to make it easier and more comfortable like the commodities of our daily life.This phenomenon is explicable and excusable because, as one of the underlying principles of our civilisation, it is our common urge to make things easier and happier.But why do we want to learn a foreign language? It is because we want to understand the other people, their living habits, their mentality, their culture, all their achievements both in the material and spiritual fields in order to march together to the higher goals of life and eventually to create a happier world for all.By this means we can learn and assimilate what is best in another race, and when the other people are backward we may hasten their progress.As Sri Aurobindo once remarked in The Future Poetry , “To know other countries is not to belittle but enlarge our own country and help it to a greater power of its own being”. For all this, language is of course the key.But there is one important factor which we should never ignore —Time.Scientists must often devote an entire lifetime to certain researches, and some experiments, such as in botany, must be carried on through generations.The same is the case with learning any foreign language.From the very beginning we must be prepared to spend many years in study, possibly without thinking of reaping the fruits.With the Chinese language that is especially true.

Another difficulty is connected with the method of teaching.Most modern methods are successful to a large extent, but the result is never total or complete.Nowadays a number of students of approximately the same age gather in a classroom where the knowledge is imparted by the instructor, using a textbook if available.Tape recordings and films are used as an auxiliary to lectures on general and on special subjects.The student is asked to work a great deal by himself writing essays, doing extra reading etc.Then after a certain period of time an examination is given.When that is passed, the student receives a certificate or diploma and the course is ended.This is the modern democratic way, and considering its merits in extending education to the masses and in bringing about some sort of standardization of learning, it is even admirable.Unfortunately it is also a bed of Procrustes.Assuming that the professor is quite competent, his influence inspiring, and his method of teaching ideal, a good number of students may come up to the standard, still others may fall below the level, and the best ones may shoot far above the level and then not proceed farther.Experienced professors can see that it is still a matter of firing shots at random in a certain direction, expecting that many may hit the mark, knowing that some may fail.But they would say that there is no better way, due to the nature of the educational institutions.In fact not only the standardization but also the ways of examination are not free from imperfections.But it seems that scarcely any better way can be found, considering the simple fact that so many students have to be taught every year.

Coming to this point one cannot keep from thinking of the ancient Chinese way.The system of education in China in ancient times is indeed unsuitable to our modern age, but with regard to the teaching of its national language, the method was an excellent one.This must have been true also in the ancient Graeco-Roman world.Scholars or men of letters were too numerous to be counted in those times when culture flourished—as there must be periods of such flowering, whether short or long, in every dynasty—but they were never, mass-produced like goods from a factory.Collectivism in a certain sense always existed, but the individuality of each person was respected.The special characteristic is that everyone was taught individually and separately by a teacher or several teachers successively or at the same time.It was like exploring a foreign land unknown to the pupil but well-known to the master, and, taken by the hand, he might proceed as far as he could for an unlimited period of years.In the course of learning there was no need for competitions or prizes.With a great master, disciples and followers might amount to hundreds or thousands, yet each one was taught by him separately and individually, or else he placed them in very small groups according to his choice, and for the newcomers he would appoint some of his old disciples as private teachers.Examinations were undertaken by the state.Retired ministers and high officials of the government, eminent learned men, and scholars who had passed or not passed the various examinations of the state could be private tutors of one or more children in a noble or wealthy family, and, unlike the Greek tutor in the Roman world, the social standing of a teacher was an honourable one.In a village a scholar could establish a sort of grammar school of his own with a small group of pupils and, not unlike the Brahmin Guru in India, he was highly revered by the common people.In every town there was an educational directorate established by the government, and also one in each province, and finally the highest one was in the central government.Colleges for higher learning were common in large towns, or in localities with beautiful landscapes, and in those the student had the director as his private master, though he might be taught by different teachers.He could attend general lectures and he had to do independent research work, and every now and then he had to write theses to test his progress.The number of years of his stay in this or that college was unlimited, and his academic honor lay in having been the disciple of this or that famous master, and in his personal achievements.The youths were, in this way, trained and educated and cultured, but all in all, they were taught separately for their individual development.That system lasted in China until about fifty years ago.

In modern times this is well-nigh impossible, and very few people can afford individual tuition.The herd instinct is always there in our human nature, and knowingly or unknowingly we like things in great quantities and large numbers.Even a millionaire might be inclined to contribute funds to an institution for the education of many and send his children there instead of having them trained by private tutors at a small expenditure.Many eminent professors refrain from taking a job as a private tutor, preferring to teach a multitude at a time instead of a few.Here then we have come to the kernel of the problem: if the learning of this language is to be entirely successful, each student must be taught individually and separately by a good teacher using correct methods for a number of years, without regard to the general standard, which will shape itself.This is a rather aristocratic but more liberal way.

Together with the superimposed standard, which is quite arbitrary, the unnecessary examination system can be done away with.The use of examinations to a state is entirely different from that of the academic field, but we need not dwell upon that subject here, since many of the educational institutions in the West have partially abolished the examination system and have resorted to other means of testing when necessary .But at this juncture we come across the problem of the initial orientation: whether to learn the Chinese language for an immediate practical purpose, say, for its use in the commercial field, or to learn it for a larger and higher purpose, though in the end that must be practical as well.The time to be spent must be taken into consideration, as said before.Indeed, it is easier to learn a new thing when one is young.Generally it takes fourteen years to develop an ordinary Sanskrit scholar, and for Chinese, since it is daily used, the term may be shorter, but no less than ten years.Yet it is advisable to begin this career fairly late, that is to say, after one has completed his higher education.Naturally, for any people or nation, learning a foreign language must come after learning the native one and it must occupy a secondary place.It is to be treated as a guest, and according to a Chinese proverb, even a noisy (i.e.presumptious) guest cannot take the place of the host or hostess.Before learning a second language it is better to have mastered one’s own, because it is through that, after all, that any new knowledge thus acquired can be readily imparted to one’s own people.However, better understanding at a riper age compensates for shortcomings in memory ability.

Tere are certain people with a special talent for learning languages, but such people are rare, and we cannot expect everyone to have such an innate aptitude, so in general they cannot be brought into consideration.Many a good Sinologist has mastered this language quite well following his own special method.But with the average man it is still the usual practical way of learning that must be followed; the path must be trodden step by step, and the sound, the meaning and the correct way of writing each word must be learned.And in learning the pronunciation of each syllable, as Chinese is a monosyllabic language, five or at least four different tones must be distinguished.Each word has to be written in a definite way which is also the most convenient way.Strictly speaking, the correct writing is connected with calligraphy, which is by itself an elevated art in China, one which demands practice (usually by copying the rubbings from stone inscriptions of a definite style or different styles) for many years; but a foreigner need not go to such lengths.Only learning the proper way of writing each word is required and gradually after constant practice one can write a word easily.Without this training from the very beginning, one is permanently at a loss as to how to put a number of dots, hooks, dashes and strokes together.Simply to write a, b, c, d, with the letters joined gives no such trouble.Without knowing the distinction of the five tones, together with a common knowledge of rhyme, no poem or rhythmic prose can be read and appreciated and, without the proper training in writing at first, similar words cannot be easily distinguished; difficulties will increase as one advances until finally they become so heavy a load that one drops the study altogether.Most of the complaints, I suppose, must have come from this source — one has not mastered these two essential things at the very beginning.Yet the variation of tones can be learned by adults within an hour, with of course the tone of each word learned later, and the writing course would require a maximum of one year with one hour of practice every day.Is that then actually so difficult? Chinese phonology, especially ancient euphonics, etymology and paleography are different subjects that can occupy one’s whole life in research, but they are not for beginners.

The natural question arises: if there is no alphabet at all in Chinese and every word must be learned separately, then how many words should we learn? It is very flexible.A general estimate has been made for primary schools in recent years.The number of words usually mastered after four years of learning, beginning with 4 or 5 words a day(28 words a week) amounts to 4,864, including 3,861 most commonly used, 574 less common, and a reserve of 429 uncommon words.This would be more than sufficient for all practical purposes. A printing press equipped with 7,000 words is said to be complete, with a few occasional supplements from the foundry.A modern dictionary called“The Ocean of Phraseology” contains about 13,000 words, but many are rare and infrequently used and many others are obsolete.

The next question is that of grammar or syntax.By its very construction every language must have some grammar of its own and, in Chinese, we find the same elements of grammar in existence, but there is no written set of rules in use.We do not have distinctions of gender, inflections of nouns, or changes of verbs, yet by using auxiliary words we can convey the idea of every noun or verbal form precisely.In fact, there was almost no trouble in translating Buddhist texts into Chinese from Sanskrit, a language well known for its complex grammar.However, to “restore” or rather to re-translate them into Sanskrit presents some difficulty because the meticulous exactitudes of the originals were often ignored in Chinese translations.

In learning the language grammar is taught along with literature, and there need not be a separate course for it.At the end of the last century (somewhere between 1875 and 1908) a Chinese scholar named Ma Chien Chun 马建忠 was sent by the Chinese government to France for studies.On returning to China he wrote a Chinese grammar called“Ma’s Grammar” 《马氏文通》 patterned after a French one.His book, not too well known, had some merit in helping to elucidate the texts of ancient classics and histories in the light of European grammar and it proved useful to scholars to a certain extent, but nobody used it for teaching purposes.On the whole we may say that there may be other defects or deficiencies in the Chinese language, but with regard to grammatical construction there are none.English is much loose in its grammar than Latin or Greek, or even than German and French, but it is neither defective nor inefficient for our modern usage.

A general idea is given in this treatise, with a number of examples, of the formation of Chinese words.Since the purpose here is only to elucidate the fundamentals, and that also only to a limited extent because sometimes by further analysis of a word one is led to greater perplexities, many words are not employed.At the end of the seventeenth century a great scholar named Ku Ting Ling 顾亭林 began a profound study of ancient Chinese.This study was continued by many generations of scholars for nearly three hundred years and it began to diminish in fervour only a few decades ago.But fnally a great controversy arose when it was argued that in order to study the ancient literature one must of course frst recognize the words, but one should not be required to learn every word in the dictionary.Tat would only be necessary for specialists.Here we take only those words most commonly used today; the original form of every word is given with its pronunciation and meaning under the category to which it belongs.Preceding this is a very brief survey of the history of the Chinese language, and the modern system of phonetic signs is at the end.Some examples of the correct method of writing are also given.Also all the written words may be used as models for copying, in order to master calligraphy.

Now at this point we must not fail to note that this monosyllabic language has certain advantageous characteristic of itself, in spite of all the difficulties in learning which have been mentioned.In speaking it can be just as easy and pleasant as any of our popular languages today.Three or more consonants to be pronounced together without a vowel, or five or six repetitions of the same vowel —especially ‘a’ —in a word are never found.Even the sound of a German ‘r’ is not present.But the greatest advantage which remains usually unnoticed is that in most languages we must utter several syllables to say a word, and then only the idea of one word is expressed; whereas when we utter several syllables in Chinese, several words are said and the idea of an entire sentence is stated.Obviously there is a certain economy of effort and of time as well.We note that in modern writing there is a tendency to use words of no more than three syllables, and that is considered to be a lack of elegance in style.Be that as it may, the tendency toward economy of words is accelerated by the increasing complexity of our social relationships.Letters by themselves do not convey any sense, and certain prefixes and suffixes can only indicate forms of speech.In Chinese simple and elementary words are learned instead of alphabets, and when they form compounds or terms, the meaning can be recognized through their components, this being a great convenience in elementary education, especially that of the illiterate masses.Therefore it is easier for them to comprehend new complex terms.If one understands a term spontaneously through the simple components one already knows, then one is spared much effort in learning new words.This simple linguistic chemistry can be illustrated by a few examples:

Fire, Water, River, Hand, Mouth, Man, Ox, Horse...all these are common words.These words are naturally known to the illiterate adult who can neither read nor write them.If we combine the two sounds of ‘fire’ and ‘water’, forming a compound of ‘fire-water’, he can easily understand that this means that liquid which is combustible, i.e.‘petroleum’ or ‘petrol’.Conversely, if we say ‘water-fire’ then by a slight turn of mind he can think of the idea of ‘being antagonistic’, because these two things are mutually exclusive.‘River’ and ‘horse’ combined into one compound means ‘hippopotamus’, just as its Greek origin of‘horse’ and ‘river’.If you say this word to an English child and if he has not learned it he may be puzzled, wondering what gibberish you are uttering.But to a Chinese child a ‘river-horse’ is almost self-evident.He is spared the effort of spelling and memorizing the long word ‘h-i-p-p-o-p-o-t-a-m-u-s’ together with its correct accent.‘Man’ and ‘mouth’together means ‘population’.‘Water-ox’ is the ‘buffalo’.‘Water-hand’is the ‘sailor’.‘Man’ and ‘Horse’, both understood in the plural, means the ‘troops’, and so on.In this way very simple words are multiplied into a great number of compounds without confusion.The process is very much like the formation of compounds in Sanskrit but without its extension to any great length.In this respect the Chinese language is comparatively simple and easy to learn.Its underlying principle, forged through the ages by the wisdom of the race, is always the same, i.e.to express the most by means of the least without ambiguity.And herein lies an important and inherent value of this language, a high flexibility and adaptibility, which is revealed by its entrance into the modern world.The rich inflow and steady absorption of new ideas, new terminologies, and new codifications to meet the requirements of the advancing sciences attest to this.

Less effort means less time.With regard to the written language there is yet another advantage so far as space is concerned.In hand-writing a Chinese word is normally written in a square form of about one centimeter.We may take English as a comparison.An English word may be composed of a number of letters varying from one to twenty.Let us suppose an average of five letters per word, which is of course a very low estimate.The ratio between the number of words and the number of letters is then 1 to 5.If a printed Chinese word occupies only as much space as an English letter, as is often the case, then printed English requires far more space than printed Chinese.We forget this because the letters are arranged in a horizontal line.If we put them together in another way and compare their equivalents in Chinese, for example:

then the difference between the space occupied by an English word and that by a Chinese word becomes remarkable.

This is more evident in printing.Usually a page in English printed and translated into French is still approximately one page, and vice versa.Rendering the same into Chinese, in Pei Hwa or the spoken language of today and printing it with types of the same size, say of 10 1/2 points, it covers usually less than a page.It may be less by 1/8 to 1/6.Putting it into Wen Yen, or classical style, the reduction of the words may come to half of the former.Yet it can never come to that ratio of 1 to 5, because an English word is usually expressed in Chinese by two or three words.Nevertheless, much space can be saved.When a thick volume is to be printed, the economy of paper, chasing and all labour costs involved can be clearly seen.

There is still another important characteristic which is often overlooked that contributes greatly to the conservation of human knowledge.In a language like Chinese the written forms scarcely change.The sound or pronunciation of a word may vary according to different dialects, but its written form and its meaning remain always the same.In China people read books written two thousand years ago just as we read books of today.Whereas in Europe if we want to acquire some historical knowledge on a subject of such antiquity we must resort to Greek and Latin, and both these owe much of their fragile existence throughout the ages to the Bible.For obtaining knowledge of the Middle Ages one must also go through Old or Middle English, or High or Low German, all to be learned apart from Modern English and New High German.With Langue d’oc and Langue d’oïl, the case is no better.Intelligentsia in the West regard this as a natural part of higher education and culture.Indeed, the language barrier between nations or races has attracted a large measure of attention, but few people have reflected upon the problem of the extra energy and time which whole generations have spent, if not wasted, on this historical barrier within the realm of their mother tongue.And what will be the condition in the future? Shall we people of the twentieth century be understood by man in the thirtieth or fortieth century? Judged by developments in the past, a language based on form or shape lasts longer.A solid mass of knowledge, physical or spiritual, conveyed by an everlasting vehicle, rolling and progressing ever farther and farther, can be the greatest guardian of humanity.And by that means we shall have won back our ever fleeing friend—Time.

Here then is an etymological approach.This book is not meant to be a dictionary or a textbook.If these scripts are read and copied or meditated upon in a joyful mood, gradually they can be mastered without the need of cramming.To say that any language is learned without tears declares only its partial success, because no language should be learned with tears.Only a happy and free state of mind is needed.Thoroughly studying this book should greatly lighten the effort of memorizing the vocabulary, and by this one can understand the language in its essence.The immediate purpose of this book as a help to beginners ends here.It may also be interesting to those who have natural inclinations toward pictorial or symbolical forms, but that can neither be of primary importance nor is it the intention of this book.But since the authentic etymological and hence the most reliable explanations arc given, this affords a substantial means for the correct understanding of ancient texts, especially those of philosophy, upon which vague and misty annotations have gradually accumulated throughout the ages.The far-reaching consequences of such a work go up to this point where presumably its true value lies.This serves as the first step on a royal way to higher studies, though there is as yet no royal way.

Finally it must be said that this book is essentially meant as a small offering to our Divine Mother under Whose providential guidance with Her supramental force alone it has come into being.May all readers enjoy Her Blessings.

F.C.Hsu　Pondicherry　July 1963 bK0KVlrjeNm7HvbCfiJkZgbmamlRnP9CxSbbSLeVeF5uHnNUhNCeIaoLLQJ2Hl0M