{"product_id":"kingdom-of-characters-the-language-revolution-that-made-china-modern-9780735214736","title":"Kingdom of Characters: The Language Revolution That Made China Modern","description":"\u003cb\u003eWhat does it take to reinvent a language?\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAfter a meteoric rise, China today is one of the world's most powerful nations. Just a century ago, it was a crumbling empire with literacy reserved for the elite few, as the world underwent a massive technological transformation that threatened to leave them behind. In \u003ci\u003eKingdom of Characters\u003c\/i\u003e, Jing Tsu argues that China's most daunting challenge was a linguistic one: the century-long fight to make the formidable Chinese language accessible to the modern world of global trade and digital technology. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eKingdom of Characters\u003c\/i\u003e follows the bold innovators who reinvented the Chinese language, among them an exiled reformer who risked a death sentence to advocate for Mandarin as a national language, a Chinese-Muslim poet who laid the groundwork for Chairman Mao's phonetic writing system, and a computer engineer who devised input codes for Chinese characters on the lid of a teacup from the floor of a jail cell. Without their advances, China might never have become the dominating force we know today. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith larger-than-life characters and an unexpected perspective on the major events of China's tumultuous twentieth century, Tsu reveals how language is both a technology to be perfected and a subtle, yet potent, power to be exercised and expanded.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Riverhead Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/17\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780735214736\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 336\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.61lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.19w x 0.81d","brand":"Jing Tsu","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42520566366389,"sku":"9780735214736","price":15.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_2eef1c2e-499a-4a06-b720-05317777e906.jpg?v=1669129691","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/kingdom-of-characters-the-language-revolution-that-made-china-modern-9780735214736","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}