The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-10-28
CHINESE IN SHORTHAND.

It seems TO be conceded as practi-
anything Of the Chinese language and
characters, that there will have to be
n reform with respect to thom before
China can really catch up with the
scientific thought and expression of
the day. The clumsy lot OF charac-
tcrs that stand for ideas-ideograp phs,
to wit-are altogether too unwieldy
for modern use, and when it is remem-
bered that Chinese students have to
pass long years of study to master the
intricacies and use Of all these char
acters, the puzzle of which is such that
the Chinese people have tcdiousness
and difficulty in learning them at all, it
is evident that they cannot possibly
progress and keep pace with the world
as long as they use that system Of char.
acters.
1t has been announced from time to
time that the Chinese government was
about to adopt the English language
in it's entirety, setting aside not only
the old symbols, but also the language
in use now in Chinese official life
itself, There would be a great deal
Of advantage in this, since the
languages in China are so different
that the inhabitants Of one province
cannot understand that Of another;
save only that the literary classes who
have mastered the superior learning
system are Of course able to COM
municate with each other, both In writ
ing and in speech, by that system. The
adoption of the English language would
be the best possible thing for the
| Chinese people as a whole, if this
| adoption could be mado general. In the
next generation all would be speaking
the English language, and the old
| classic literature of China could be
easily translated into it and thus pre-.
served.
Hope is expressed Of great i'm
provement by reason Of system Of
| Chinese shorthand, which is said to
have been invented by David p. Jones.
who for fifteen years has been Chinese
interpreter at San Francisco. 1t is
said that this system of shorthand will
facilitate the use OF the language. Its
| great advantage is that ii is phonetic
representing as the Chinese characters
do not, the actual vowels and con
sonants. 1t is said to be also quicker
to write. only about oue-sixth as many
strokes being required as in the writ
ing OF the old characters.
But in order fully to get tho advan-
tage of this system of shorthand
some one of the many dialects would
have to be adopted and the others set
aside, or possibly all of the dialects
would have 10 be set aside and only
the official court language used hence.
forth. But there would be Just as much
difficulty for the masses of the people
to learn 10 use another one Of the
great number Of dialects. or even tho
court language, as in learning new
language altogether. such as the Eng
lish. While using the old would con
tinue their isolation; using English
would put the Chinese right in the
midst Of tho world g activities With
respect TO the characters. the short
hand used in English would bo just a,
available as the English alphabet
and all alphabe,s might be set aside in
China in favor Of the shorthand char
acters of the phonetic system. The
English language is lust as susceptible
of being written in that manner as
any other. oven more so than most. But
the advantage Of the English woult
be that tho language Is simple, more
direct, aud is more adaptable to tb,