Books for learning Chinese

Chinese Characters: A Genealogy and Dictionary
Book version of this Zhongwen.com online dictionary - same content but you flip instead of click. (Portability and better aesthetics are its main advantages.) Designed to help students remember and appreciate Chinese characters, it uses charts based on the classic dictionary Shuowen Jiezi (c. 100 A.D.) to highlight the remarkably logical structure of characters. These unique charts, which trace all characters back to several hundred pictographs and ideographs, are one of eight different methods for looking up characters and words. Order it directly from Yale Far Eastern Publications - call (203) 432-3109 (Visa or Mastercard) during business hours or fax or mail them the following form. Or order it online from Amazon.com (UK, Germany), Barnes and Noble, Borders, Books.com, Powell's, or Shoenhof's (Boston). Also try your college bookstore or World Journal Book Stores. In Taipei, where it was printed by Han Lu Book and Publishing Company, try Eslite, Lucky Bookstore (main building of National Taiwan Normal University) or Caves Bookstore.

Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary
Squeezes over 1000 pages into an extremely handy "little red book". The English-Chinese part doesn't always list the most common Chinese word, but other dictionaries are no better. Structured around simplified characters, it integrates traditional characters for reference better than any other dictionary. The original 1986 Chinese printing had an excellent cloth binding, thin and high quality paper, and very fine, legible print. The imprints from Oxford, including this version at Amazon, are noted for their smudgy, illegible characters. The new edition from Oxford overcomes the problem by using larger fonts (especially for the English letters) in a desktop format, but the content is still a pocket dictionary. Best bet is to track down the original pocket version from China.

ABC Chinese-English Dictionary : Alphabetically Based Computerized
Over 70,000 well-chosen Chinese words organized entirely letter-by-letter according to word pronunciation rather than by radicals or character pronunciation or syllable pronunciation. This system is exceptionally quick when you already know the pronunciation of a word. To facilitate phonetic look-up, words are not grouped by their initial character as in conventional dictionaries. Nor are words grouped according to the pronunciation of their initial syllable. For instance, "dang1bing1" (serve in the army) is listed between "dan1chun2" (pure) and "dan1wei4" (work unit) despite "dan1chun2" and "dan1wei4" having the same initial syllable (and, in this case, same initial character). This seems counter to the strongly syllabic nature of Chinese. Characters are written primarily in simplified form. A quite legible (and more affordable) pocket version is now available. The CD-ROM package from Wenlin includes the dictionary, allowing it to be searched by multiple methods.

Far East Chinese-English Dictionary (paperback)
Perhaps the best dictionary for intermediate students, this version includes a pinyin index to supplement the bopomofo system, making it more user-friendly for foreigners than previous versions. Published in Taiwan, it uses traditional characters and is rich in references to traditional cultural. Has the same 7,331 characters as the desk version, but has fewer words for each character.

Chinese Characters
Written more than 80 years ago, this remarkable book teaches Chinese characters by explaining their etymologies. Like my dictionary, it concentrates on the xiaozhuan etymologies and does not reflect modern scholarship on pre-qin character evolution. Organized as a series of lessons rather than a dictionary. Unfortunately, pronunciation is given in Wade-Giles only and poor indexing severely limits the book's usefulness as a reference source.

Analytic Dictionary of Chinese and Sino-Japanese
Written by the preeminent Western scholar of Chinese etymology more than 70 years ago, this dictionary helps students learn characters by explaining their origins and interconnections. Great idea. Unfortunately, it just has character entries and no word entries. And it doesn't have cool charts like my dictionary. If only one of his successors had followed through on his plan to bring etymology to the masses, my life would have been a lot more interesting the last few years.

Analysis of Chinese Characters
This 364-page book, originally published in 1922, discusses 1000 common characters, treating most of them in more detail than Wieger does but providing less systematic analysis. Includes stroke count and Wade-Giles index.

A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters
A very helpful guide for studying kanji, literally "Chinese characters". It gives etymologies for each of the common characters, along with mnemonic pseudo-etymologies that are helpful when the actual etymology is too obscure. [Since characters are used more frequently and systematically in Chinese, what is obscure to students of Japanese is more likely to make sense to students of Chinese. So the pseudo-etymology approach is really best for Japanese students.] Chinese pinyin pronunciations are included along with the Japanese readings.

Mandarin Chinese : A Functional Reference Grammar
A standard, comprehensive reference book on Chinese grammar for foreigners. Provides serious, systematic analysis, but remains accessible to non-linguists. A good supplement to the water-downed grammar in most textbooks. Notes common variations in usage among native speakers. Strangely uses pinyin rather than characters.

The Chinese Language : Fact and Fantasy
If this site gets you too excited about the beauty and logic of Chinese characters, this book will bring you back to reality and then some. DeFrancis debunks many of the myths about Chinese characters, particularly the idea that they can serve as a universal language, but propagates a few of his own while downplaying the advantages of characters as a writing (and reading) system for Chinese. Still, it's the most informative and fascinating book on Chinese characters you will find.

Introduction to Chinese Cursive Script
Deciphering Chinese handwriting is a real pain, especially in this computer age since you encounter it less and less. This great book gives a structured analysis of the main script forms for 300 common characters and presents extensive reading exercises in 17 different handwritings.

Visual Dictionary of Chinese Culture
A picture dictionary showing different scenes from China with all of the objects labelled in both English and Chinese. Since it's a Chinese-Japanese dictionary redone for the English market, it's more comprehensive than what we English speakers usually enjoy. Includes pinyin pronunciation for each Chinese word, making it useful to even beginning students. Both simplified and traditional characters. Nice! I can't find it at Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble, but you can order it directly from Longman in Hong Kong for $HK 325 by calling (852) 2856-6339. Also search for ISBN 9620014499 at Jovian Bookshop or order it from Chinese Books. Wherever you look, don't get it confused with the Oxford-Duden Pictorial Chinese & English Dictionary which is aimed at Chinese speakers learning English.

China's Cultural Code Words
A collection of words that resonate culturally in China with a page or so background on each. With a history as long as China's, and with all the neologisms of the communist and reform periods, choosing the best words is difficult. Lots of character and pinyin typos leave one feeling a little uneasy. But most of the entries are quite fascinating.

Chinese
Informative, approachable introduction to Chinese and its many dialects. Useful for linguists and for hobbyists like me. New, much cheaper (though still expensive) paperback version.

Speaking of Chinese
Great, not too technical introduction to Chinese for someone who is just starting the language or for intermediate students who want to step back from their textbooks and get a broader perspective on what exactly they've gotten themselves into.

Fun with Chinese Characters
Aimed at beginners and children, this series of short books explains the basic characters that are used in combination to form other characters. Lots of pictures. Fun, as advertised.

Cracking Chinese Puzzles
Not available from Amazon but still available in some stores, this series gives a guided tour of character etymology.

Lonely Planet China
The best way to learn Chinese is to just go there and teach or work or study. Once you're there, hit the road with this definitive guide that has sent tens of thousands across China since individual travel became possible again in the 1980s. Helps you enjoy both the vibrant new China and find the islands of traditional architecture and culture that still remain. Also see the guides to Beijing, South-West China, Tibet, and the excellent Lonely Planet Taiwan.

For a very comprehensive list of Chinese dictionaries, see China Bibliography. For reviews of CDs for learning Chinese, see Learning Chinese Online. For more books see China Books, Cheng & Tsui, Chinese Books, Far Eastern Publications at Yale, and Pan Asian Publications.