NEW CHINESE ALPHABET
Lord A\ olseley once prophesied that eventually the Chinese would rule tho world. Yet in the past 90 per cent of the Chinese people were quite illiterate. There has, however, come an awakening, and a desire for education has developed.
One of the reasons for the sudden change is that the Chinese have adopted a new phonetic alphabet. By means of 39 signs, or letters, it is possible for them to write and express anything which can bo spoken in their own language. For thousands of years there had been a way of writing Chinese, but it was such a difficult way that only scholars attempted it! The old Chines© alphabet had 43,(XX) signs, and it is scarcely apprising that most Chinamen gave up all idea of learning to read and write.
To-day the Chinese Board of Education has succeeded in inventing an alphabet of 39 letters, which are not unlike shorthand. Missionaries and teachers have undertaken the teaching of reading and writing bv means of this simplified method. The modern Chinaman is hungry for knowledge and education, and even old people are found to be anxious to learn to read and write.
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Bibliographic details
Star (Christchurch), Issue 16749, 2 June 1922, Page 10
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196NEW CHINESE ALPHABET Star (Christchurch), Issue 16749, 2 June 1922, Page 10
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