Such is the written language of China, and such indeed it was, already
under the dominion of the phonetic system, by which endless new
combinations may still be formed, at the very earliest point to which
history, as distinguished from legend, will carry us,—some eight or nine
centuries B.C. There are no genuine remains of pure picture-writing, to
enable us to judge how far the Chinese had got before the phonetic
system was invented, though many attempts have been made to palm off
gross forgeries as such.

The great majority of characters, as I have said, are capable of being
easily resolved into the two important parts which I have attempted to
describe—the original phonetic portion, which guides toward
pronunciation, and the added indicator, which guides toward the sense.

Even the practical student, who desires to learn to read and write
Chinese for purely business purposes, will find himself constrained to
follow out this analysis, if he wishes to commit to memory a serviceable
number of characters. With no other hold upon them beyond their mere
outlines, he will find the characters so bewildering, so elusive, as to
present almost insuperable difficulties.

But under the influence of systematic study, coupled with a fair amount
of perseverance, these difficulties disappear, and leave the triumphant
student amply rewarded for his pains.




LECTURE II