Jing Tsu’s book, “Kingdom of Characters: The Language Revolution that Made China Modern,” is a groundbreaking investigation into language’s profound influence on modern China’s change. Tsu’s main argument postulates that the Chinese writing system, more importantly, the characters of the writing, was central to China’s modernisation and the Chinese cultural identity. Tsu investigates engagingly and vividly the dynamic relations of language to technology, politics, and culture, which together forge the complex possibilities of China’s linguistic landscape. This review is a critical appraisal of Tsu’s book; it takes note of the volume’s contributions to understanding the dynamics of language, culture, and modernity in China while discussing areas within it that could use further insights or be subjected to clarifications.
In “Kingjsondom of Characters: The Language Revolution That Made China Modern,” Jing Tsu (2022) perfectly details how Chinese characters developed to take on such varied functions in Chinese society. Starting with the contextualisation of the Chinese writing system, which stands out in an unparalleled way, with its endurance and fortitude within the rich tapestry of world languages, Tsu illuminates the splendour of that which is ordinary and everywhere. Far from utilitarian tools to communicate only, Chinese characters represent an astonishingly profound cultural legacy: centuries of literary, philosophical, and historical depth. As Tsu emphasises, this realisation underscores his seeking an enlivened balance between language and change: change in the way language does not remain a mere reflection but, over time, becomes a proactive shaper of those societies it conveys (Tsu, 2022). Tsu’s exploration finds the deeper connections among language, culture, and identity, opening the reader’s mind to think of this linguistic system’s transformational power of human experiences and their collective stories.
“Kingdom of Characters: Thejson, Thehtml, The Language Revolution That Made China Modern” is the book of Jing Tsu, who has pursued a remarkable interest in an ambitious book, taking an intricate look into a “language revolution” taking place in China, where the radically changing world sees language changes affecting the impact of technology and changing social implications for language (Tsu, 2022). Tsu carefully explores the driving changes, such as the characteristic new usage of movable type printing, standardisation of Chinese writing, and the accessibility and circulation of Chinese characters fundamentally changed when digital technologies emerged. As Tsu puts it, this was a natural language revolution, which also impacted the democratisation of knowledge: information was more generally available, and literacy was not an issue among the various social classes. Tsu considers the dramatic effect of language technologies on social dynamics since innovation in communication media can restructure the outlines of linguistic practice and broader patterns of cultural interaction and intellectual activity. In this highly coherent study, Tsu unfolds the complexities of language, technology, and social change to provide an illuminating examination of language change in a rapidly changing society.
One of the most illuminating sections in Tsu’s book is her section on the democratisation of language through print culture. She identifies how more printed materials, such as newspapers, novels, and educational texts, created more widespread and participatory forms of public speech. Print materials have allowed people from all walks of life to explore knowledge and ideas, enabling the interchange and enrichment of intellect and culture (Tsu, 2022). The analysis of Tsu highlights the potential of encouraging literacy, education, and social mobility through people’s adoption of language technologies.
Furthermore, Tsu delves into the intersections of language and nationalism, exploring how language policies and linguistic ideologies shaped China’s identity construction. In doing so, she looks at the tension between diversity and unity, showing how initiatives in standardising written Chinese reflected much grander political desires for a unified and modern nation-state. Tsu (2023) deals in detail with linguistic nationalism and linguistic imperialism, explaining how language politics is complex in the world of globalisation.
“Kingdom of Characters: Thejson, Thehtml, The Language Revolution That Made China Modern” is the book of Jing Tsu, who has pursued a remarkable interest in an ambitious book, taking an intricate look into a “language revolution” taking place in China, where the radically changing world sees language changes affecting the impact of technology and changing social implications for language. Tsu carefully explores the driving changes, such as the characteristic new usage of movable type printing, standardisation of Chinese writing, and the accessibility and circulation of Chinese characters fundamentally changed when digital technologies emerged. As Tsu puts it, this was a natural language revolution, which also impacted the democratisation of knowledge: information was more generally available, and literacy was not an issue among the various social classes. Tsu considers the dramatic effect of language technologies on social dynamics since innovation in communication media can restructure the outlines of linguistic practice and broader patterns of cultural interaction and intellectual activity (Tsu, 2023). In this highly coherent study, Tsu unfolds the complexities of language, technology, and social change to provide an illuminating examination of language change in a rapidly changing society.
Further, the integration of linguistic technologies in typewriting and digital media shall extend the scope of how technological innovation impacts the articulation of language and communication patterns. The author quotes typewriting technologies that had revolutionised Chinese typing practices and, at the same time, facilitated mass production of writing materials, which included reading materials that increased administrative efficiency. Tsu investigates the impact of new media on language circulation, observing the norms of both languages used in the various digital communication channels on the Web and the creative language and sociability characterising the digital spaces.
Although Tsu’s book brims with insight and analysis, there remains room for her to stretch her legs—in extended description or, in some cases, through more profound engagement with other perspectives—for the book to ascend to even greater heights. For instance, a further study on regional linguistic variation against the national language policy would illuminate the complexity of linguistic diversity in China. Moreover, such a comparison can only add further enlightenment to a discussion on the language universals and cultural specificity of the process under consideration, which both need to be continuously reaffirmed.
Generally, Jing Tsu’s Kingdom of Characters: The Language Revolution that Made China Modern is a seminal work on the complicated relationship between languages, culture, and modernity within the Chinese context. The interdisciplinary scholarship in Tsu’s artful research gives new critical insights that a linguist, a literature researcher, and a scholar in culture studies and Chinese studies highly appreciate. This review thus wholeheartedly acknowledges this invaluable contribution of this book, encouraging continued dialogue and scholarly inquiry into a domain that is most certainly witnessing dynamic evolution in contemporary societies’ language. “Kingdom of Characters” is a proper scholarly achievement, not by overstating that this book might be considered an exciting narrative, revealing the power of human language in creating human experiences—and hence, the human identity.
References
Tsu, J. (2022). Kingdom of characters: The language revolution that made China modern. Penguin.
Tsu, J. (2023). Kingdom of characters (Pulitzer prize finalist): The language revolution that made China modern. Penguin.
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