{"product_id":"kingdom-of-characters-jing-tsu-9780735214736","title":"Kingdom of Characters (Pulitzer Prize Finalist): The Language Revolution That Made China Modern","description":"\u003cb\u003ePULITZER PRIZE FINALIST \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eNotable Book of 2022 \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat does it take to reinvent a language? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAfter a meteoric rise, China today is one of the world's most powerful nations. Just a century ago, it was a crumbling empire with literacy reserved for the elite few, as the world underwent a massive technological transformation that threatened to leave them behind. In \u003ci\u003eKingdom of Characters\u003c\/i\u003e, Jing Tsu argues that China's most daunting challenge was a linguistic one: the century-long fight to make the formidable Chinese language accessible to the modern world of global trade and digital technology. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eKingdom of Characters\u003c\/i\u003e follows the bold innovators who reinvented the Chinese language, among them an exiled reformer who risked a death sentence to advocate for Mandarin as a national language, a Chinese-Muslim poet who laid the groundwork for Chairman Mao's phonetic writing system, and a computer engineer who devised input codes for Chinese characters on the lid of a teacup from the floor of a jail cell. Without their advances, China might never have become the dominating force we know today. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith larger-than-life characters and an unexpected perspective on the major events of China's tumultuous twentieth century, Tsu reveals how language is both a technology to be perfected and a subtle, yet potent, power to be exercised and expanded.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jing Tsu\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0735214735\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780735214736\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Riverhead Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/17\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 336\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.45lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.20w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e Pulitzer Prize - Finalist","brand":"Jing Tsu","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44069882134783,"sku":"9780735214736","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_805b5d68-0faf-4884-a199-160e6fc939af.jpg?v=1685427056","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/kingdom-of-characters-jing-tsu-9780735214736","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}