Reading and Writing Chinese: Guide to the Chinese Writing System

At the outset you should realize that this book exists in two slightly differing forms. One provides instruction on simplified Chinese characters, and the other deals with traditional forms used in Hong Kong and Taiwan. This review is in relation to the latter 'traditional' version.
The volume isn't so much a dictionary as a handbook, although with the Pinyin index at the rear it'll be adequate for that purpose. That said the entries in the main body don't provide anything in the way of example sentence structures which you'd imagine is de rigueur for lexicons. What are included are variant meanings. And though initially tricky the additional stroke index also permits a search for characters where you don't yet know the attached pronunciation.
The multi-use value of McNaughton's public-transport friendly volume is the inclusion - on both the front and back inside covers - of radical lists. The front section presents the traditional ordering of roots; this is tied in with the Pinyin index and quite straightforward to use. The list at the back transcribes how the Han-Ying Cidian/The Chinese-English Dictionary arranges things. The author states that this latter group might be more useful for the learner. Incidentally, he recommends learning both.
As I suggested this isn't really a workbook, and you'll definitely struggle to cram in your calligraphy if that's what you're intending. Even so the book presents each character at a more than sufficient size, with the stroke order in separate boxes to aid learning.
Also for all characters here (several thousand in fact) there'll be - at the bottom right corner of each rectangular box - the simplified version should it differ from the traditional form.I have both versions of Reading and Writing Chinese, and for the most part it's this (traditional) version I take around with me. Obviously if you're just starting out you might like to obtain both, to avoid incorrect writing. I have noticed that my own teacher has on occasion written something down for me in a way which is slightly unfamiliar, so trusting any book as definitive might be a bit too much.
On a final note the author makes an interesting point; one which relates to - in his view - the relative ease of moving from the traditional Character forms to the simplified ones rather than vice versa. He also observes that an isolated focus on simplified writing will exclude so much of recent Chinese literature. From my own limited experience in this regard, and while shopping at my local Chinatown I did spot "newspaper" written in the stacked traditional.

at last chinese character large enough to study (15/15 people found this helpful)

What so many books forget is how difficult it can be to read chinese characters in normal print size unless you have spent a few years in the subject. This is a catalogue which with a bit of practice will lead you swiftly you find what you need. I would consider it an essential for anyone learning to write the language.

Not bad. (23/27 people found this helpful)

Not bad, and quite helpful. Useful as a basic written Chinese-English dictionary and as a learning aid for reading printed characters. However, there is a problem in that the indices at the back don't show simplified characters (at least, not in my version!). Since it is aimed at beginners, this is slightly problematic since a few of the common simplified characters look quite different to the traditional characters: e.g. the characters for "book" (thing that you read) and "Han" (Chinese ethnic group). If you're learning Mandarin and working with books from mainland China, this is a slight problem - a shame, really, since it wouldn't've been difficult to list both forms side-by-side in the indices. For some reason, the "character usage" portion of each definition emphasises phrases: it would have been more practical to have emphasised some of the commoner two-character words. The book would then have been even more useful as a beginner's dictionary.

Excellent guide to Chinese writing (23/24 people found this helpful)

If you want a concise book on how to write Chinese then this is the book for you. The first 1062 Chinese words come complete with the definition and brushstroke diagrams to teach you the correct method of writing in Chinese. Great book for beginners or for those who have 'forgotten' over the years to write in Chinese.

Beautiful book about the art of Chinese brush writing (31/31 people found this helpful)

This book is a wonderful insight and learning aid for basic and advanced Chinese reading and writing of characters. With brief explanations of pronunciation and containing Pinyin equivalents for each word, I have found no better guide for writing Chinese. Fully indexed in Pinyin and Chinese with brush strokes and correct order.

Reading and Writing Chinese: Guide to the Chinese Writing System

William McNaughton

Reader Reviews:

Way more characters than Phillip Yunkin Lee's 250 Essential Chinese Characters for Everyday Use. (0/0 people found this helpful)

at last chinese character large enough to study (15/15 people found this helpful)

Not bad. (23/27 people found this helpful)

Excellent guide to Chinese writing (23/24 people found this helpful)

Beautiful book about the art of Chinese brush writing (31/31 people found this helpful)

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