Chinese characters FAQ

Does Chinese have an alphabet?
Are characters pictographs?
How old are Chinese characters?
How have the characters changed?
How reliable are traditional etymologies?
What are simplified characters?
How many characters are there?
Which direction are characters written?
How are Chinese words created?
How are foreign words imported?
How are foreign names written?
What English words come from Chinese?
What is putonghua?
How different are the dialects?
Do the dialects have different writing systems?
Do Chinese, Japanese and Koreans use the same characters?
Why is Peking now Beijing?
How do you know the pronunciation of a character?
Why are Chinese characters so complicated?
How are Chinese dictionaries organized?
What are radicals?
How are characters entered into computers?
Will Chinese characters be abolished?
Where can I learn more about Chinese characters?

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