Chinese Characters Research Articles

19세기 한글본 서울지도 ｢경조오부도｣와 ｢한성부지도｣의 지명 특성 및 유형 분석

This study analyzes the geographical names, rivers, and roads depicted in the 19th-century Korean maps of Seoul, 'GyeongjoObuDo(京兆五部圖)' and 'HanseongbuJido(漢城府地圖)' to understand the appearance of Seoul at that time, with a particular focus on the characteristics and types of geographical names. 'GyeongjoObuDo' was created in 1884 by George Foulk, an American diplomat, based on the 'GyeongjoObuDo' from ‘Daedongyeojido(大東輿地圖)’ . This map, used by a foreigner, contains a mixture of Korean and English names, with a total of 184 geographical names, and features color-coded representations for mountains, rivers, and roads. 'HanseongbuJido' , created in 1900 by the Yangji Office(量地衙門), includes numerous geographical names written in both Chinese characters and Korean, totaling 420 names. This map predominantly features facilities and uses unique Korean names, showcasing the originality and historical significance of the geographical names of that era. Both maps detail the major geographical names, transportation routes, and defense facilities of Seoul, reflecting the linguistic characteristics and regional features of the time. Through this study, it has been confirmed that these Korean maps are important historical sources that reflect the political, economic, and cultural context of 19th-century Seoul beyond mere geographical information. Therefore, there is a need for systematic research and analysis of these Korean maps to provide fundamental data for a deeper understanding of the social and cultural background of the time. Such research requires interpretation of the social, cultural, and worldview changes embedded in the content and representation of the maps.

Islamization of the Term “清真” (Qing Zhen): Its Analysis for Purity and Authenticity for Muslim in China

This paper aims at examining the meaning of the two Chinese characters “清” (Qing) and “真” (Zhen” once used singly as well as combined together in the Chinese classical literatures in order to show why and how the Chinese Muslim scholars have applied and Islamized them for interpreting Islam by the Confucian ways and Taoist methods at the civilization and culture dialogue level. Further, the paper also demonstrates the evolution of “Qing Zhen” which has eventually become a special term for Muslims in China and how its connotations have currently been limited and restricted. Meanwhile, the paper discusses the related critical issues, such as the epistemology of the Ḥalāl Food and its legislation in China. Lastly, the author comes with some humble suggestions which tie with the results of the study by wishing for Muslims, in China or anywhere else, to reexamine their conducts and to reconsider how to inherit Islam as well as how to hand it down to the next generation.

COSMOLOGICAL CONCEPT OF TIME IN “THE CHANGE OF ZHOU” (“THE BOOL OF CHANGE”)

This paper represents one chapter from my PhD dissertation, written and successfully defended at Beijing Normal University in 2012. The whole content is translated from my doctoral dissertation that was originally written in Chinese language. According to the existing references, the earliest Chinese philosopher who mentioned in his essays the word “cosmos – yuzhou” was Shi Jiao (390-330 BC). He said: “four directions of Heaven and Earth are called ′yu′, time since ancient times till today is called ′zhou′”. In other words, yu represents space, while zhou symbolizes time, and that is why Chinese ancient cosmology may be even called “concept of space and time”. Inscriptions on the oracle bones and tortoiseshells with the symbols called “ganzhi”, originating from the Yin dynasty, were used to record hours, days, months and years i.e. time, but at the same time, Chinese people used these symbols to mark the directions of space, too. All of the cosmological diagrams used by “The Change of Zhou” and yijingologists, like Fuxi’s transcendental bagua diagram, king Wen’s empirical bagua diagram, river map and Luo book simultaneously depict time and space. In the eyes of the Chinese people, since ancient times, time and space are one whole and inseparable unity. However, being a foreigner, the writer of these lines will separately analyze the meaning of time in “The Book of Change”. As a foreigner, I find that the greatest charm of Chinese characters is that every character holds the whole history and etymology of one word or term in it. In other words, the most prominent feature of Chinese characters is symbolism. Therefore, if we want to explore “the time” concept, we must start from the character 时- shi meaning “time”. Character shi is formed of one radical meaning “sun”, and another meaning “measure”. This shows that the meaning of character shi is “measuring the sun”, i.e. measuring the length of sun shadow. The shorter the sun shadow is, the weather is being warmer and the Yang energy gets more abundant. It explains that character shi depicts increasing and decreasing of Yin and Yang energy in the cosmos and on the Earth. This paper analyzes time concept in “The Change of Zhou” from the Chinese and Western point of view. It explains meanings of Heavenly dao, Heavenly time, chance and synchronicity. The paper uses time theories (like simplicity of time, presentism, etc.) of German scientist Leibniz（1646 – 1716）, and famous Swiss psychologist Carl Jung’s（1875 - 1961） concepts (like cosmical archetypes and synchronicities), and compare them with ideas of “the cognition of subtle”, “progress through change” and “capability to grasp the chance” in “The Change of Zhou”. Finally, it combines and summarises the concept of time from “The Change of Zhou” and Western point of view.

Microstructure Evolution and Mechanical Properties of Extruded AlSiCuFeMnYb Alloy

This study investigates the impact of varying extrusion ratios on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AlSiCuFeMnYb alloy. Following hot extrusion, significant enhancements are observed in the microstructure of the cast rare earth aluminium alloy. Within the cross-sectional microstructure, the α-Al phase is reduced in size, and its dendritic morphology is eliminated. The morphology of the eutectic Si phase transitions from long strips to short rods, fine fibres, or granular forms. Similarly, the Fe-rich phase changes from a coarse skeletal and flat noodle shape to small strips and short skeletal forms resembling Chinese characters. The CuAl2 phase evolves from large blocks to smaller blocks and granular forms, while the Yb (Ytterbium)-rich rare earth phase shifts from large blocks to smaller, more uniformly distributed blocks. In the longitudinal section, the structure aligns into strips along the extrusion direction, with the spacing between these strips decreasing as the extrusion ratio increases. At an extrusion ratio of 22.56, the alloy demonstrates superior mechanical properties with a tensile strength of 325.50 MPa, a yield strength of 254.44 MPa, a hardness of 143.90 HV, and an elongation of 15.47%. These represent improvements of 27.8%, 36.5%, 38.9%, and 236.4%, respectively, compared with the as-cast rare earth alloy. In addition, the fracture surface of the extruded rare earth alloy exhibits obvious ductile fracture characteristics. Additionally, the alloy undergoes dynamic recrystallisation and dislocation entanglement during hot extrusion. The emergence of a twinned Si phase and a dynamically precipitated nanoscale CuAl2 phase are critical for enhancing deformation strengthening, modification strengthening, and dynamic precipitation strengthening of the extruded alloys.

『시진핑 국정운영을 말하다』에 관한 번역수사학적 연구

As interaction between countries becomes increasingly frequent, the importance of foreign publicity becomes evident. Among them, the role of translation is very crucial in foreign publicity. This study aimed to analyze how political texts were translated into Korean based on the perspective of rhetoric, with Xi Jinping: The Governance of China as the research subject. Through this, it was found that the rhetorical methods used in Xi Jinping: The Governance of China are divided into quotation, metaphor, parallelism, and antithesis, and as a result of based on these analyses, it was found that the translator mainly used methods such as literal translation, free translation, adaptation, Chinese character notation, addition, semantic interpretation, omission, etc. Also, inappropriate expressions were found while analyzing the Korean translation. At the same time, opinions were also presented to correct these. Through this study, it is hoped that it will help in conducting translation or foreign publicity projects of other political texts including “Xi Jinping: The Governance of China” in the future.

墓誌와 族譜를 통해 본 行第 사례 고찰 －中國 宋代 安陽韓氏 가문을 중심으로－

This paper analyzes the “Hangje” of the Anyang Han clan during the Song Dynasty based on an initial case study of the Tang Dynasty’s Nak-An Sohn clan. By analyzing Han Qi’s The Literary Collection of Anyang, the recently excavated epitaphs of the Anyang Han clan, and The Genealogy of Xiaoshan Yidu Han Family Clan, it was possible to reconstruct the specific appearance of the “Hangje.” As a result, it was revealed that the generational ranks were assigned based on birth order of each male member, including cousins of the same generation among the extended family members within the Song Dynasty’s Anyang Han clan. This is a similar result to the research previously conducted by the author regarding the Nak-An Sohn clan of the Tang Dynasty. Despite a time gap of about 200 years between the Nak-An Sohn clan of the Tang Dynasty and the Anyang Han clan of the Song Dynasty in Chinese history, both clans are believed to have maintained a hierarchical system, known as “Hangje,” based on the birth order of family members, thereby suggesting a continued tradition of establishing generational ranks to preserve familial order among descendants sharing a common ancestor. In Imperial China, in order to establish the hierarchical order within the same clan, Chinese families adopted the practice of giving family members the names that included a common Chinese character for those of the same generation. Furthermore, each member was assigned a generational rank (行第: Hangje) to further distinguish the order within the family. This family-centric hierarchical structure likely played a crucial role in defining roles and responsibilities within the family, fostering harmony among its members, and contributing to the maintenance of social order.

From Viral Strains to Social Pains: Navigating Racial Profiling in Yang s New from Here

Racial profiling is a discriminatory practice of singling out individuals by police officers based on their race. During COVID-19, Chinese people suffer tsunamis of racial profiling, referring to them as virus holders, which makes them confront substantial challenges facing bias and oppression in different places. Despite the number of studies that tackled racial profiling within the law enforcement field through different perspectives, none of them has tried to approach the topic outside the police field during the pandemic period using Critical Race Theory. Thus, the current study aims to investigate the acts of racial profiling appointed against the Wei-Evans in Kelly Yangs’ New from Here (2022) in light of Delgado and Stefancic’s Critical Race Theory (2017). Following a descriptive qualitative analysis, the study adopts the theory’s concepts of ‘Racism is Common not Aberrational’, ‘intersectionality’, ‘Race is socially Constructed’ and ‘The Unique Voice of Colour’ as methodological tools to analyse the novel. Scenes, where the protagonists encounter degrading, dehumanisation and racism, are examined to figure out how Covid-19 helps in profiling the Chinese characters and how they react to such profiling. The study concludes that racial profiling is a discriminatory practice perpetrated by different individuals against Chinese people during COVID-19 time to perpetuate Western dominance over non-Westerners. Moreover, the study concludes that the Wei-Evans challenge racial profiling by creating counter-narratives, empowered by their ‘Unique Voice of Colour’ to de-profile and voice themselves. Finally, the study circulates the term ‘Racial Profiling’ outside the police institution because it is only used within police areas.

益山与东亚古代都城

The cultural heritage of Iksan possesses the structural characteristics of an ancient capital, with well-preserved palace grounds, Buddhist temples, the foundations of the royal city, substantially intact royal tombs, and a road network laid out in a grid pattern resembling the shape of the Chinese character “井”, all indicative of a capital city layout. Excavations at the royal palace site have unearthed roof tiles inscribed with the term of “首府(capital)”, while historical records refer to Iksan as the former capital, with both literature and archaeology supporting the notion of Iksan as an ancient capital. The capital Iksan exhibits features typical of East Asian capitals while also reflecting characteristics unique to Baekje's capitals. Under pressure from internal and external forces, Baekje kings may have adopted a “multi- capital system” to adapt and ensure survival. Sabi, Ungjin, and Iksan seem to have all served as capital cities during the reign of King Mu of Baekje. Archaeological findings, historical records, landmarks, and cultural relics collectively confirm the historical reality of Iksan as a capital city, fitting into the historical context of Baekje and conforming to the ancient capital typology of East Asia. Iksan's status as a capital city is substantiated, though the relevant evidence is fragmentary and lacks completeness and systemization. Only through comprehensive research utilizing the method of “bold hypothesis, careful verification” can we possibly confirm and elucidate the appearance and essence of its capital city.

The Teaching and Learning Methodology and Popularization Methodology of Professional Lectures in Korean literature in Classical Chinese Characters at University

The Teaching and Learning Methodology and Popularization Methodology of Professional Lectures in Korean literature in Classical Chinese Characters at University

A Study on the Teaching of Chinese Characters Memorization for Foreigners based on the Memory Principle of Cognitive Psychology

A Study on the Teaching of Chinese Characters Memorization for Foreigners based on the Memory Principle of Cognitive Psychology

Rejecting small! Accepting larger? Optimizing the font size of Chinese characters basing legibility and visual fatigue in OST-HMDs

Font size is highly related to the legibility and visual fatigue in OST-HMDs, but the effects of font size on these factors remain further explored. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of a wider range of Chinese character font size (0.32°–1°) on legibility and visual fatigue, as well as to determine the optimal font size. Results showed that 0.32° had the worst legibility, but there was no continuous improvement as font size increased. A larger font size was found to be beneficial in reducing visual fatigue until it reached 0.95°, beyond which visual fatigue would relatively increase. Font size smaller than 0.32° should be rejected while a larger font size does not always provide more benefits. Considering legibility, visual fatigue and efficiency of text presentation, 0.84° is a relatively optimal Chinese character font size.

Incomplete handwritten Dongba character image recognition by multiscale feature restoration

Incomplete handwritten Dongba character often appears in heritage documents and its recognition is significant for heritage and philology. However, all previous methods always suppose that a complete Dongba character is used as input, and thus fail to achieve satisfactory performance when applied to incomplete Dongba character recognition. In this paper, an end-to-end network (DB2RNet) is proposed for incomplete handwritten Dongba character image recognition by multiscale feature restoration. Specifically, we first develop datasets that contain different levels of incomplete Dongba characters. A restoration module is proposed to restore the input incomplete Dongba character, and then a recognition module is employed to recognize Dongba character. By introducing an inter-module residual connection between the restoration module and recognition module, the DB2RNet can strengthen feature information transmission and boost the recognition performance. In addition, novel multiscale feature blocks are introduced, which can provide more effective texture and contextual information transmission for Dongba character image restoration, and thus yielding better restoration effects and better recognition results. Extensive experiments are conducted on Dongba character, Chinese character and Oracle character datasets and validate the effectiveness, superiority and robustness of our methods. Experiments results demonstrate that our proposed DB2RNet achieves competitive Dongba character restoration and recognition performance and outperforms the current state-of-the-art methods.

Impact of task type and task complexity on negotiation of meaning in young learners of Chinese as a second language

Abstract Negotiation of meaning (NoM) has played a facilitative role in second language acquisition. However, the existing studies have primarily focused on adult English language learners. This study investigated the impact of task type and task complexity on NoM strategies among young learners of Chinese as a second language, an underexplored group. The participants were 110 students in Hong Kong aged 10–12, mainly from Pakistan, India, Philippines, and Nepal. They were asked to perform four tasks with different task types and levels of task complexity in Cantonese (the primary Chinese dialect spoken in Hong Kong). In terms of task type, the study found that required information exchange tasks (i.e., information gap tasks) produced significantly more clarification requests, confirmation checks, self-repetitions, and other repetitions in terms of total numbers and numbers per 100 Chinese characters than the optional exchange tasks (i.e., decision-making tasks). Complex tasks, on the other hand, elicited significantly more confirmation checks than simple tasks. These findings provide useful insights for designing tasks that can promote greater use of NoM strategies in classroom practice.

The Metaphors and Cultural Psychology of the Chinese Character "Chi"

The word "([chi] eat)" has been widely used in Chinese and it has thus derived rich connotations and complex metaphors. Taking "([chi] eat)" and its related phrases as the research object, this paper classifies its metaphorical types into six categories based on its eight senses recorded in the dictionary. For each type of metaphor, the derivation from the original meaning to the extended meaning is explained and the connotation is stated and further described with detailed examples. Because the formation of language is inseparable from the influence of culture, this paper also analyzes the cultural psychological factors behind the metaphors of "([chi] eat)" from the perspectives of its importance, delicacy, and richness. Closely combined with Chinese history and geographical conditions, a unique explanation for its wide use and great importance is thus provided.

Research on the Current Situation of Chinese Character Teaching in International Chinese Education: Based on Foreign Chinese Teaching Cases

Research on the Current Situation of Chinese Character Teaching in International Chinese Education: Based on Foreign Chinese Teaching Cases

Event-related brain potentials in lexical processing with Chinese characters show effects of contextual diversity but not word frequency.

The diversity of contexts in which a word occurs, operationalized as CD, is strongly correlated with response times in visual word recognition, with higher CD words being recognized faster. CD and token word frequency (WF) are highly correlated but in behavioral studies when other variables that affect word visual recognition are controlled for, the WF effect is eliminated when contextual diversity (CD) is controlled. In contrast, the only event-related potential (ERP) study to examine CD and WF Vergara-Martínez et al., Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 17, 461-474, (2017) found effects of both WF and CD with different distributions in the 225- to 325-ms time window. We conducted an ERP study with Chinese characters to explore the neurocognitive dynamics of WF and CD. We compared three groups of characters: (1) characters high in frequency and low in CD; (2) characters low in frequency and low in CD; and (3) characters high in frequency and high in CD. Behavioral data showed significant effects of CD but not WF. Character CD, but not character frequency, modulated the late positive component (LPC): high-CD characters elicited a larger LPC, widely distributed, with largest amplitude at the posterior sites compared to low-CD characters in the 400-to 600-ms time window, consistent with earlier ERP studies of WF in Chinese, and with the hypothesis that CD affects semantic and context-based processes. No WF effect on any ERP components was observed when CD was controlled. The results are consistent with behavioral results showing CD but not WF effects, and in particular with a "context constructionist" framework.

The influence of Chinese typography on information dissemination in graphic design: based on eye-tracking data

The arrangement of Chinese characters has a significant impact on the visual effect and information dissemination in graphic design. In traditional Chinese layout, vertical arrangement of characters is predominant, but in recent times, there has been a gradual transition towards horizontal arrangement. To compare the influence of different character arrangement forms on visual meaning generation and information dissemination, This study employed an eye-tracking experiment to investigate two common Chinese character layouts in posters—horizontal and vertical, and collected data such as eye-tracking heatmap, pupil diameter and eye-tracking trajectory map. Based on objective eye-tracking data, combined with post-test interviews and questionnaire surveys, it was found that vertical character arrangement in Chinese typography is more effective in attracting visual attention and facilitating the expression and stimulating interest in viewing/reading under the premise of meeting formal requirements, which may provide guidance and inspiration for the practical application of Chinese characters in layout design, advertising design, packaging design, exhibition design, UI design, and other related fields.

한·일 방송콘텐츠에 나타난 피동표현 연구

Objectives The purpose of this study is to compare the usage patterns of passive expressions in Korean and Japanese, Although passive expressions are frequently used in both Korea and Japan, there is limited data comparing and analyzing passive expressions through corpora, and research on non-passive expressions is rare, hence the need for further investigation. Methods First, we collected and analyzed passive expressions from approximately 600,000 words of Korean and Japanese broadcast content. Second, we extracted and compared non-passive expressions in Korean and Japanese. Third, we elucidated differences and commonalities through the usage patterns and examples of passive and non-passive expressions in Korean and Japanese. Results Passive expressions found only in Korean total 424, with suffix passives being 254 or 60%, lexical passives 131 or 31%, and syntactic passives 39 or 9%. Next, passive expressions found only in Japanese consist of -れる form with 219 or 89%, and -られる form with 26 or 11%. Finally, passive expressions in both Korean and Japanese total 101, with suffix passives being 29 or 29%, lexical passives 68 or 67%, and syntactic passives 4 or 4%. Conclusions This study examined the usage patterns of passive expressions in Korean and Japanese using broadcast content from a Korean-Japanese parallel corpus. The reason why non-passive expressions in Japanese were frequently used when Korean was in passive form was because they were often substituted with intransitive verbs, particularly in suffix and syntactic passives. However, in mutual passive expressions, two-syllable Chinese characters were frequently observed in lexical passive expressions, which can be effectively utilized in passive education due to the characteristics of Chinese character usage. This study holds significance not only as foundational material for Japanese learners of Korean but also for Korean learners of Japanese

The Semantic Integration of Multiple Unconscious Stimuli in Creative Problem‐Solving

ABSTRACTThe process of creative problem‐solving (CPS) commonly demands that individuals consciously or unconsciously integrate creative ideas from a vast array of diverse information. Using a masked priming paradigm and the Chinese remote associates test (RAT), this study provides innovative behavioral evidence for the integration of multiple unconscious stimuli during CPS. In Experiment 1, three masked Chinese characters were simultaneously presented in the RAT, the first and third characters could be combined to form an answer. Two Chinese two‐character words were presented in parallel, each containing the answer in Experiment 2, and required the complete word information to be split and subsequently re‐integrated in a more complex manner than in Experiment 1. Interestingly, in both the experiments, multiple unconsciously processed stimuli generated a priming effect on creative performance. Specifically, a positive priming effect was observed in response to the difficult RATs, whereas a negative priming effect was observed in response to the easy RATs. Overall, our study verified that semantic integration between different unconsciously perceived stimuli can occur, which provides insights into the mechanisms underlying unconscious priming effects and contributes to a better understanding of how creative cognitive processing is influenced by multiple types of unconscious information.

A Study on the Representation of Ancient Marriage System in Chinese Characters from a Diachronic Perspective

Chinese characters have endured through the ages, containing rich cultural connotations. This paper takes the diachronic changes in the marriage system as its basis and reveals how the ancient marriage system is reflected in Chinese characters through in-depth analysis of the origin and evolution of Chinese characters, providing a new perspective for understanding ancient Chinese society and culture.