The Origin and Early Development of the Chinese Writing System: Vol 78 (American Oriental Series)

Boltz, William

ISBN 10: 0940490781 / ISBN 13: 9780940490789

Published by American Oriental Society, New Haven, CT, 1994

About this Item

Presumed first printing of the first edition. 1994. Approx. 10.25 x 7.25 inches. Red cloth hardboards, with crisp gilt lettering to the spine. Lightly bumped spine head and tail, and with sharp corners. A very clean binding. Text block firmly bound in. With ix and 205 numbered pages on off-white, semi-glossy stock. Note that a previous owner has made a few tiny marks, mostly as tiny black ink circles, in the margins of the introductory section of the text; else an immensely clean interior. Illus. include several B&W figures and tables. No dust jacket is present. A Very Good Plus to Near Fine copy. 1 lb. 9 oz. William G. Boltz is an American sinologist. This book sketches with extraordinary precision the history of the Chinese writing system from the late Shang (ca. 1200 B.C.) when Chinese characters are first in evidence down to the script's standardization and codification a millennium later in the Ch'in and Han (221 B.C.-A.D. 220). Prof. Boltz takes in part a comparative approach to the origin and early structure and development of Chinese writing, suggesting that in its general principles the process was matched pari passu by the way writing first arose in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and among the Mayas (for example, that the Chinese script records the sounds of words, not ideas). The author also examines the question of why the Chinese script never became alphabetic, in spite of hints of such tendencies in the third and second centuries B.C.

Seller Inventory # 008881

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Origin and Early Development of the Chinese Writing System: Vol 78 (American Oriental Series)
• Publisher: American Oriental Society, New Haven, CT
• Publication Date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0940490781
• ISBN 13: 9780940490789
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Very Good Plus
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Seller catalogs:
  • Archaeology
  • Linguistics, Semantics, Rhetoric
  • Misc. Books

About this title

Synopsis

Originally published in 1994 (hardcover now out of print), this volume has been reprinted in a new paperback format that will make it more attractive and affordable for use in the classroom. The work sketches with extraordinary precision the history of the Chinese writing system from the late Shang (ca. 1200 B.C.) when Chinese characters are first in evidence down to the script’s standardization and codification a millennium later in the Ch’in and Han (221 B.C.–A.D. 220). Prof. Boltz takes in part a comparative approach to the origin and early structure and development of Chinese writing, suggesting that in its general principles the process was matched pari passu by the way writing first arose in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and among the Mayas (for example, that the Chinese script records the sounds of words, not ideas). The author also examines the question of why the Chinese script never became alphabetic, in spite of hints of such tendencies in the third and second centuries B.C. Kidder Smith, of Bowdoin College, said of the original publication: “... this book will be highly valued by anyone concerned with the relationships of language to writing, and should become the point of reference for all discussions of these questions as they pertain to ancient Chinese” (Religious Studies Review Vol. 21, No. 4, October 1995).