Hanzi and I

By Shereka Kim Felix [Dominica]

I have always been in love with the written word.If I had my way,most thoughts,ideas,and pieces of knowledge would be expressed only through writing.Speech quickly goes,and often needs to be repeated for future preservation,yet the written word is timeless.Think of the antique artifacts which prove this:the Roman and Greek scrolls,ancient notes written on stone,and political documents which were created at the founding of our respective nations.

Kim with friends

Of all the written languages I have come across,I’ve found the Chinese writing system to be the best.Mind you,in my cognitive recesses,it was not always so.When I first encountered these seemingly strange characters thirteen years ago,I wasn’t too thrilled—to say the least.I would hide my frustration behind fake smiles and graciously nod at my Chinese teacher in order to show gratitude for her efforts.When class was over and everyone had left the classroom,I would furiously stomp my feet on my Chinese books and kick them against the walls.If I could have resurrected the creator of the Chinese language and killed him again,I would have done so.

Yet after a month or two,through Chinese culture lessons,my classmates and I were introduced to the history of Chinese language:We learned about both the spoken and written parts of the language.It was the facts about the written part that grabbed my attention.It was fascinating to discover that Chinese writing is one of the oldest writing systems in the world.For a long time,it was more widely used than alphabetic writing systems.While the English alphabet has only twenty-six letters to create words with,Chinese has thousands of characters.Therefore,this allows for a wider range of written expressions.Chinese writing has also influenced many of the other writing systems in Asia.Learning these things,my mind became more receptive to the idea of learning this language and allowing it into my life.Let’s face it—if a language can have such a long history and can affect other cultures,it is certainly deserving of respect.

One of her first attempts at writing Chinese characters

After a year of interacting with written Chinese,things started to go in an even more positive direction.The additional changes I noticed were subtle,physical changes.My eyes no longer squinted when looking at the characters.My fingers no longer became tense when gripping the pencil to write the characters.My brain no longer felt stressed when reading the characters.After another year had passed I found that even if I still had trouble remembering how to write some of the characters,every time I wrote them,I felt happy.I would take the time to perfect every stroke.When I had filled each page in my practice book,I would hold the page of characters up to the window and look at their beauty against the rays of sunlight.By the third year,I had fallen in love with Chinese characters and would practice writing them in the air whenever I read them on buildings and posters.By the fourth year,the visual presence of those characters began to have a profound impact on my emotions.Whenever I saw Chinese words and phrases written on different surfaces or carved into stone,the sight of them would give me a sense of relaxation and joy.This was only with the written form,though—not with the spoken form.

As a psychology student I began to realize that this was visual sensory effect.As proven by past research,it is a wellestablished psychological fact that physical images can have a positive or negative emotional effect on the human psyche.This is the very reason why bright colors are carefully combined when arranging flowers and why there is an entire field of study devoted to interior design.In my case,it wasn’t China’s abundant floral displays or amazing architecture that affected me,but the characters—or hanzi (汉字) as they are formally named.The more I looked at them,the more their artistry,majesty,and uniqueness overwhelmed me.

Kim playing with kids

The most interesting thing I’ve come to appreciate about Chinese characters is the difference between the traditional form and the modern form.While the modern characters are easier to write,they seem to carry less depth of meaning.The traditional form seems more meaningful to me;the multiple strokes (lines) and subtle curves give them more visual depth than the modern form which has less strokes and sharper edges.

If asked,I would say that the character 愛/爱,or love,is my favorite.It represents my personality and my mother’s personality,because we are both loving people.In both its traditional form and its modern form,with a little imagination,you can see the character actually looks like the concept it represents.The combination of the “heng” and “pie” strokes actually looks like a covering which is protecting the strokes beneath them,much like a loving mother protectively holding an umbrella over her child’s head while walking in the rain.

Chinese characters have pierced my soul and provided me with peace in a way that no other language has managed to do.I will always be grateful for the opportunity I have had to learn them.Before I leave China,it is my plan to buy as many calligraphy supplies and practice books as possible.After all,who would want to forget such a unique and vibrant written language?