"Uncle Hanzi": Let Chinese Characters Tell Stories

American Chinese character researcher Richard Sears, known as Si Ruide in Chinese, founded the "Chinese Etymology" website, which allows Chinese character learners worldwide to view the corresponding glyphs by simply typing in Chinese characters. As one of the first foreign scholars to use modern technology to study the etymology of Chinese characters, he is affectionately called "Uncle Hanzi".

Learning about Wonderful China and Exploring the "Past Life" of Chinese Characters

Since learning Chinese at the age of 22, Sears, now in his 70s, has spent nearly half a century studying and researching Chinese characters. He began to digitize Chinese characters by using computers in the 1990s and founded the website "Chinese Etymology", which now contains nearly 100,000 ancient Chinese characters with users in more than 170 countries and regions around the world.

Born in Oregon in the western United States, Richard Sears has a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in computer science, but he spends considerable time and energy studying Chinese characters. As he puts it, "Chinese characters are very difficult for foreigners to learn. But once learning it you will find that Chinese language is utterly wonderful."

Sears suggests that, according to the types and characteristics of various languages in the world, Chinese is ideographic and English is phonetic. At present, the majority of the world's languages are ideographic, which include not only Chinese, but also Japanese and Vietnamese, which are heavily influenced by Chinese. To address this difference, unlike English, Chinese characters are developed from primitive pictorial scripts, with more intuitive ideograms. The early oracle bone scripts are clearly pictorial and ideographic in nature. Although the morphology of Chinese characters has changed considerably over the millennia, the ideographic function is still very significant. Therefore, to learn Chinese characters, we need to start with "interpreting the characters".

Sears argues that the meaning of words in the Western phonetic language system is often revealed through "morphemes" and "roots". The profound differences between the two systems dictate that Westerners cannot learn Chinese the way they learn English (i.e., by root derivation), but by a very different set of "story memorization" methods.

Growing up in a phonetic language environment, Sears realized in the process of learning Chinese that Chinese characters have lots of strokes and are so complex that memorizing them by rote is painful. However, by understanding the pictographic origins of Chinese characters, it would be easier to master them. Thus, he began his long journey to find the roots of Chinese characters.

Creating a digital website for the Chinese character etymology was a blank field in the 1990s. There are about 10,000 ancient Chinese characters in Shuo Wen Jie Zi, 38,000 in the Liushu Tong (Compilation of Seal Scripts), and 24,000 in the Compilation of Chinese Bronze Inscriptions... After nearly a decade, the website "Chinese Etymology" was launched in 2002, featuring the glyphs of nearly 100,000 ancient Chinese characters collected by Sears, and the "past life" of each character can be found with a click of the mouse.

"The Warmth of Chinese Language" in the Eyes of the China Hand

"I always say that every Chinese character is logical, and each one has its own story." In the view of "Uncle Hanzi", learning Chinese is not only to master a language, but also to understand thousands of years of Chinese culture through words. Understanding is also the first step to reach a common ground, and to get out of prejudice.

In the eyes of "Uncle Hanzi", there are different motivations for foreigners to learn Chinese. With the increasing opening up of China and its rising international influence and status, other countries are eager to learn more about and from China, and Chinese is undoubtedly a key to better understanding and appreciation of China.

The two-way Chinese fever is heating up, as Sears tangibly observes. "When I first learned Chinese, China was still relatively closed. There were relatively few channels to learn Chinese and know about China. Now China is getting increasingly open and progressive, which also gives foreigners more and more reasons to learn Chinese and come to China. Chinese people are also all over the world, so there are chances to meet Chinese people worldwide, which also makes foreigners interested in Chinese."

These changes have encouraged "Uncle Hanzi" to continue his research on the etymology of Chinese characters. He believes that the differences between Chinese and Western characters are not only reflected in the shape and origin of the characters, but also in the similarities and differences in the thinking patterns, behaviors, scientific concepts, and moral and legal concepts of the people in both places. All these differences are shown and passed down through the carrier of "writing".

"By understanding the etymology of Chinese characters, you will learn about the life and culture of ancient Chinese people. For example, some characters graphically demonstrate ancient textiles, some depict ancient star signs, and some show traditional Chinese agriculture and domestic animals. Each character has a story behind it, and these stories are glimpses of Chinese history."

"Through studying the evolution of Chinese characters, the origin of the characters and the thoughts of the ancients can be clearly seen, which is vivid, lovely and fascinating." This is the major difference from learning English, and also the most enjoyable part, says "Uncle Hanzi". He considers it difficult to truly understand traditional Chinese culture without an in-depth comprehension of the story behind each Chinese character. "Of course, you can also learn Chinese by rote, but the essence is lost."

From his viewpoint, characters are the carriers of culture. The difference in writing is merely the surface, but the underlying cultural distinction is the root. Learning Chinese characters through etymology is to turn the "most difficult language" into the most vivid stories, so that people can learn and memorize through understanding, and then better comprehend the differences between Chinese and Western cultures, realizing the leap from sensibility to rationality, and making cross-cultural communication more effective and smoother. In a sense, this is an important part of "people-to-people" bonds.

"Chinese Characters are not only China's, but also the World's"

Today, people around the world can conveniently learn Chinese on their own via Sears' website. According to the latest statistics, the website has more than 1 million monthly visitors worldwide, with users from over 170 countries and regions.

The "collision" between traditional Chinese characters and modern technology has provided Chinese characters with a new appeal as well as a wider audience and an easier access to the Chinese language. Sears states that in the era of globalization, culture should break the sense of "border". "Chinese characters are not only China’s, but also the world's."

Sears expresses, "Every time a Chinese person tells me, 'I can't believe you speak Mandarin.' I would respond, 'Chinese is not just China's, but a valuable culture for the whole world.'"

In December 2020, at the age of 70, Sears received his long-awaited Foreigner's Permanent Residence Card in the People's Republic of China. With this card, "Uncle Hanzi" has planned to reside in Nanjing on a long-term basis and continue teaching and studying Chinese characters. In September 2021, the "Uncle Hanzi Studio" has been established in Nanjing.

"Chinese characters are the most precious thing to me." Sears claims to be fond of the nickname "Uncle Hanzi," even though he has now reached the age of "Grandpa." Never too old to learn. In the future, I will strive to break 'cultural boundaries', promote exchanges between the East and the West, and share the stories of Chinese characters with more people." He expresses his vision for the future of Chinese characters.