This handbook contains all the information necessary for learning Chinese, from Chinese characters, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar to information on the underlying literature, art, and society. A detailed index is included. This guidebook comprehensively and clearly summarizes Chinese language, literature, culture, and society, making it a useful reference to keep on hand. Regarding language, chapters are dedicated to pronunciation phonology and pinyin notation systems, an overview of the historical transitions of Chinese characters and modern Chinese, and grammar and expressions. Regarding culture and society, topics that are not fully covered in general Chinese language textbooks, such as family relationships and their terms, body language, dialects, how to write letters, and the names of mathematical symbols, are explained in detail. Regarding literature, writers and works from pre-Qing Dynasty classics to modern literature after the Xinhai Revolution are introduced in an easy-to-understand manner. Chapter 6, "Classical Chinese," provides an overview of classical literature in general. This is a useful, interesting, and valuable book for anyone interested in Chinese and wanting to learn about "Chinese language and its literature." - Title: Chinese Language Learning Handbook Revised Edition - Edited by: Shigeru Aihara - Publisher: Taishukan Shoten (March 1, 1996) - Paperback: 325 pages