For some a discovery journey into Chinese characters, for others a wonderful picture book.Hans Kisling from Franeker (The Netherlands) spent 34 years developing his life work, a book of 720 pages explaining the Chinese characters. More than 100 poets and artists, including several children, created decorative color illustrations and appropriate texts for the 675 characters of this rich book. Above all it is a wonderful art book which guarantees hours and hours of browsing, reading and enjoyment.
Kisling is a scientist and artist, economist and philosopher, translator Chinese and Hispanist, but above all he’s an idealist. With his book China-Y Kisling tries to “bring world citizens closer together by creating understanding for each other’s culture and language”.
“Chinese characters are no more than everyday images,” tells Kisling. “Just look closely and you’ll discover how.” With his English book China-Y: Chinese characters for everybody he wants to make these images comprehensible and explain their source.
In his book Kisling describes the origin and history of each character. It begins with an archetype of the character dating back to 3000 BC. Next come the characters of the first dictionary, and of course the contemporary Chinese graph. Sometimes added with a short version, as used in modern day China. Under the character you’ll find the formula of the graph, a poetic or prosaic paragraph by a writer or poet and additional information on the illustration.
For this life work over 80 sources of investigation about the origin of the Chinese characters were used. The book China-Y (Y stands for explanation/solution) contains no less than 675 characters, which Kisling analyzed together with Chinese scientists. By explaining the origin of the characters and by illustrating them with images, Kisling changes the concept of traditional learning methods. The endless copying of characters gives way to learning the Chinese language in a fast, easy, clear but above all enjoyable way. This makes the book not only extremely suitable for people who are interested in the language but also for educational purposes. Every character page is a treat, a thrill to read and explore.
As an idealist, Kisling wants to donate the profits of the book to help traumatized children of the war in Rwanda. “These children have been marked for life,” says Kisling. Through Foundation Parca, Kisling wants to help. Each book sold will contribute to this end.
The book China-Y, Chinese characters for everybody, ISBN: 978-90-811024-1-4 can be ordered as off … through www.china-y.com and costs € 49,50.
Press contactLiesbeth Wageman
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About Interacts VOFThe book China-Y, Chinese characters for everybody, ISBN: 978-90-811024-1-4 can be ordered as off … through www.china-y.com and costs € 49,50.
More information : http://www.china-y.com/
