The Chinese Typewriter

by Thomas Mullaney

  As we continue our examination of Chinese and global information technology in the age of computing and new media, then, one of our biggest challenges remains: to liberate our imaginations from a past that never actually existed.

  Notes

  1 Brian Rotman, Becoming Beside Ourselves: The Alphabet, Ghosts, and Distributed Human Being (Durham: Duke University Press, 2008).

  2 Eric Singer, “Sonic Banana: A Novel Bend-Sensor-Based MIDI Controller,” Proceedings of the 2003 Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, Montreal, Canada, 2003.

  3 It is worth noting that, as these keystrokes are sent back and forth across fiber optic cables, in theory they become susceptible to the very kinds of surveillance we have become ever more cognizant of in the wake of recent revelations—none as stirring and unsettling perhaps as the Edward Snowden leak. Despite the public’s increased wariness of surveillance over private communications, however, we have collectively overlooked the ways in which the shifting ground of technology has now made possible new and potentially more invasive forms of surveillance: the ability to spy on a person as he uses Microsoft Word or TextEdit, perhaps as easily as when he sends SMS messages or emails. See Thomas S. Mullaney, “How to Spy on 600 Million People: The Hidden Vulnerabilities in Chinese Information Technology,” Foreign Affairs (June 5, 2016), https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2016-06-05/how-spy-600-million-people

  4 David Bonavia, “Coming to Grips with a Chinese Typewriter,” Times (London) (May 8, 1973), 8.

  5 Philip Howard, “When Chinese Is a String of Two-Letter Words,” Times (London) (January 16, 1978), 12.

  6 The description reads: “A special exhibition celebrating the eccentric and bizarre in the museum’s collection. A clockwork bird-scarer, a box of dust, a Chinese typewriter and a battered old suitcase are just some of the objects with stories to tell.” “Eccentricity: Unexpected Objects and Irregular Behavior,” special exhibition, Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, England, 2011.

  7 Chinese typewriter formerly employed by Wang Shou-ling in Uppsala, Double Pigeon style, manufactured c. 1970, housed at the Tekniska Museet, Stockholm, cataloged as “Skrivmaskin/Chinese Typewriter,” inventory no. TM44032 Klass 1417.

  8 The original reads: “Hieroglyfer är bildtecken, picktogram … Dagens trafikskyltar är en sorts piktogram. Även kinesisk skrift är piktografisk och har tiotusentals tecken … Till skillnad från den piktografiska skriften har de alfabetiska ganska få tecken, ‘bokstäver.’ Det gor att det är mycket lättare att utveckla tryckteknik om man använder alfabetisk skrift.” Visit by author, summer 2010.

  9 The Simpsons, season 13, episode 1304, “A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love,” December 2, 2001.

  10 Exchange between Nora (Knoxville, Tennessee) and Cecil on straightdope.com, 1995.

  Table of Archives

  Asia

  AS Academia Sinica (Taipei, Taiwan)

  BMA Beijing Municipal Archives (Beijing, China)

  NDL National Diet Library (Tokyo, Japan)

  SMA Shanghai Municipal Archives (Shanghai, China)

  TMA Tianjin Municipal Archives (Tianjin, China)

  United States

  BL Bancroft Library (University of California, Berkeley)

  DZS Devello Z. Sheffield Letters & Photographs (Ruth S. Johnson Family Collection)

  GKP George Kennedy Papers (Yale University, New Haven, CT)

  HI Hoover Institute (Stanford University, Stanford, CA)

  HML Hagley Museum and Library (Wilmington, DE)

  HUNT Huntington Library (San Marino, CA)

  IBM International Business Machines Corporate Archives

  LOC Library of Congress (Washington, DC)

  MBHT Museum of Business History and Technology (Wilmington, DE)

  MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)

  MPH Museum of Printing (North Andover, MA)

  NARA-CP National Archives and Records Administration (College Park, MD)

  NARA-SB National Archives and Records Administration (San Bruno, CA)

  NCM National Cryptologic Museum (Annapolis Junction, MD)

  PCA Philadelphia City Archives (Philadelphia, PA)

  PENN University of Pennsylvania Archives (Philadelphia, PA)

  PSBI Pearl S. Buck International (Perkasie, PA)

  RBML Columbia University Rare Books and Manuscripts Library (New York, NY)

  SI Smithsonian Institute (Washington, DC)

  SMML Seeley Mudd Manuscript Library (Princeton University, Princeton, NJ)

  STAN Stanford University Special Collections (Stanford University, Stanford, CA)

  TSM Private Collection of Thomas S. Mullaney (Stanford University, Stanford, CA)

  UD University of Delaware Special Collections (Wilmington, DE)

  UH University of Hawai‘i at Manoa Special Collections (Honolulu, HI)

  UN United Nations Archives (New York, NY)

  WES Wesleyan University Special Collections (Middletown, CT)

  YULMA Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives (New Haven, CT)

  Europe

  BNF Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris, France)

  CFV Dipartimento di Studi sull’Asia Orientale, Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia (Venice, Italy)

  CW Cable and Wireless Archives (Porthcurno, United Kingdom)

  DNA Danish National Archives (Copenhagen, Denmark)

  HH Private Collection of Henning Hansen (Copenhagen, Denmark)

  MAM Musée des Arts et Métiers (Paris, France)

  MME Musée de la Machine à Écrire (Lausanne, Switzerland)

  MS Mitterhofer Schreibmaschinenmuseum (Partschins/Parcines, Italy)

  NI Needham Institute (Cambridge, United Kingdom)

  OHA Archivio Storico Olivetti (Ivrea, Italy)

  PTM Porthcurno Telegraph Museum (Porthcurno, United Kingdom)

  RH Private Collection of Rolf Heinen (Drolshagen, Germany)

  TM Tekniska Museet (Stockholm, Sweden)

  UDD Private Collection of Umberto Di Donato (Milan, Italy)

  Biographies of Key Historical Persons (alphabetic by surname)

  Auguste Beyerhaus (?–?), printer in Berlin and developer of divisible type “Berlin Font” for Chinese

  Bi Sheng [畢生] (990–1051), inventor of movable type

  Chen Lifu [陳立夫] (1900–2001), former Guomindang secretary general, minister of education, and inventor of five-stroke (wubi) Chinese character retrieval system

  Du Dingyou [杜定友] (1898–1967), library scientist and inventor of shape-position (xingwei) Chinese character retrieval system

  Samuel Dyer (1804–1843), British Protestant missionary and printer in China, and developer of steel typeface for Chinese

  Pierre Henri Stanislas d’Escayrac de Lauture (1826–1868), developer of experimental Chinese telegraph code

  William Gamble (1830–1886), Irish-born American printer, oversaw operations at the Presbyterian Mission Press in Ningbo, China, beginning in 1858

  Thomas Hall (1834–?), inventor of Hall index typewriter

  Carlos Holly (1838–1919), engineer, inventor, and assistant in manufacturing Chinese typewriter by Devello Sheffield

  Hu Shi [胡適] [Hu Shih] (1891–1962), Chinese language reformer, philosopher, former president of Peking University, and diplomat

  Jin Jian [金簡] (?–1795), bannerman from Shenjing, former Grand Minister of the Household Department, and Supervisor of the Wuying dian

  Robert McKean Jones (1855–1933), typographer, keyboard designer, Remington employee, and inventor of Phonetic Chinese typewriter

  Kataoka Kotarō (?–?), inventor of Otani Japanese Typewriter

  Marcellin Legrand (?–?), type designer and codeveloper of divisible type Chinese font

  Lin Taiyi [林太乙] (1926–2003), daughter of Lin Yutang

  Lin Yutang [林語堂] (1895–1976), linguist, author, and inventor of MingKwai Chinese typewriter

  Edwin McFarland (1864–1895),
inventor of first Siamese typewriter

  George McFarland (1866–1942), brother of Edwin McFarland, and proprietor of McFarland typewriter store in Siam

  Samuel Morse (1791–1872), inventor of telegraph and codeveloper of Morse code

  Jean-Pierre Guillaume Pauthier (1801–1873), Orientalist, translator, and codeveloper of divisible type Chinese font

  Qi Xuan [祁暄] (1890–?), inventor of combinatorial Chinese typewriter

  Qian Xuantong [錢玄同] (1887–1939), philologist, language reformer, and advocate of abolishing Chinese characters

  Devello Zelotes Sheffield (1841–1913), American missionary and inventor of first Chinese typewriter

  Shimada Minokichi (?–?), inventor of “Oriental Typewriter”

  Shu Zhendong [舒震東] (?–?), codeveloper of Shu Zhendong Chinese typewriter [舒震東華文打字機] (first mass-manufactured Chinese typewriter)

  George Staunton (1781–1859), sinologist and first translator of Qing legal code into English

  Sugimoto Kyōta [杉本京太] (1882–1972), inventor of Japanese typewriter

  Tap-Key (1900–present), apocryphal inventor of Chinese typewriter

  Septime Auguste Viguier (1837–1899), codeveloper of four-digit Chinese telegraph code

  Wang Jingchun [王景春] [Chin-Chun Wang, C.C. Wang] (1882–1956), former editor of Chinese Students’ Monthly, codirector of Peking-Mukden and Peking-Hankow Railways, and inventor of experimental telegraph code for Chinese

  Wang Yunwu [王雲五] [Wang Yun-wu] (1888–1979), inventor of four-corner numerical Chinese character retrieval system (sijiao haoma)

  Yasujiro Sakai (?–?), inventor of early kanji typewriter

  Y.C. James Yen [晏阳初] (1893–1990), educationalist, literacy activist, and cofounder of National Association of Mass Education Movements

  Yu Binqi [俞斌祺] (1901–?), athlete and inventor of Yu-style Chinese typewriter

  Zhang Jiying [張繼英] (?–?), developer of natural-language Chinese character rack for printers

  Zhao Yuanren [趙元任] [Y.R. Chao, Yuen Ren Chao] (1892–1925), linguist

  Zhou Houkun [周厚坤] [Hou Kun Chow, H.K. Chow] (1889–?), codeveloper of Shu Zhendong Chinese typewriter (first mass-manufactured Chinese typewriter)

  Character Glossary

  aikoku taipisuto 愛国タイピスト patriotic Japanese typist

  baihua 白話 vernacular language

  baoleishi 堡壘式 fortress style

  ba zi shi 八字式 “eight”-character-style character rack

  bianyi zipan 貶義字盤 negative connotation terms tray

  biaozhun heng zhi shi Zhong Ri wen daziji 標準橫直式中日文打字機 Standard Horizontal-Vertical-style Chinese-Japanese typewriter

  biaozhun shi Huawen daziji 標準式華文打字機 Standard-style Chinese typewriter

  bihua 筆畫 stroke

  bimu moxi 閉目默習 blind (typing) practice

  Bi Sheng 畢生

  bi shi yu dian er cheng hua 必始於點而成畫 “must begin as a point before becoming a stroke”

  bitan 筆談 brushtalk

  bushou 部首 radical/classifier

  chan 产 to produce/production

  Chen Lifu 陳立夫

  chinmun 真文 truth script

  chokugo 勅語 imperial rescript

  chongfuzi shi 重複字式 repeating character style

  cunzai 存在 to exist

  dao 道 way

  Da Qing lüli 大清律例 Great Qing Legal Code

  dayin 打印 to print out

  dayinben 打印本 typed and mimeographed edition

  daziji 打字機 typewriter

  dazinü 打字女 typewriter girl

  dazi rencai 打字人才 typing talent

  dazi tengxieshe 打字謄寫社 type-and-copy shop

  daziyuan 打字員 typist

  dengdeng 等等 et cetera

  denshin jigō 電信字号 telegraph signals

  dian 點 dot/point

  dianbao 電報 telegram

  dianma 電碼 telegraph code

  diannao 電腦 computer

  dianxin 電信 telegraphy

  dianxin zhuquan 電信主權 telegraph sovereignty

  dingzhen xuxian 顶针续线 thimble linking

  Dishu 地书 Book from the Ground

  dōbun dōshū 同文同種 same script, same race

  Dongfang tushuguan 東方圖書館 Oriental Library

  douzheng 鬥爭 struggle

  Du Dingyou 杜定友

  duli 獨立 independent

  erji mofan 二級模範 second-level model (worker)

  fada 發達 to develop

  faming 發明 to invent/invention

  fangshexing 放射性 radiating style

  fuci fangshe zituan 複詞放射字團 radiating compounds

  gada gada gada 嘎哒嘎哒嘎哒 onomatopoeia describing sound of Chinese typewriter

  gao 高 high

  geming 革命 revolution

  genben fangfa 根本方法 fundamental method

  genju 根據 according to

  gexin 革新 to reform/reformed, to innovate/innovation

  gong 公 public

  gongji 攻擊 to attack

  gou 勾 hook

  guangde Huawen dazi buxi xueshe 廣德華文打字補習學社 Guangde Chinese Typing Supplementary School

  guibing bushou fa 歸併部首法 Merged Radicals Method

  guo 国 country

  Guoyu 國語 national language

  guoyu yuekan 國語月刊 National Language Monthly

  hanzi jianfa 漢字檢法 Chinese Character Retrieval Method

  hanzi jianzi he paidie fa 漢字檢字和拍疊法 Chinese Character Retrieval and Stacking Method

  hanzi paizi fa 漢字排字法 Chinese Character Arrangement Method

  hanzi suoyin zhi 漢字索引制 Index System for Chinese Characters

  hanzi wu zui 漢字無罪 Chinese characters are innocent

  hanzi xingwei jianzifa 漢字型位檢字法 Shape-Position Retrieval System for Chinese Characters

  haoma jianzifa 號碼檢字法 Numerical Retrieval System

  hezuoshe 合作社 cooperative

  Hiraga Gennai 平賀源内

  hitsudan 筆談 brushtalk

  hōbun taipisuto kyōkai 邦文タイピスト協会 Japanese Typist Association

  hōbun taipuraitā tokuhon 邦文タイプライター讀本 Japanese Typewriter Textbook

  hongxing daziji chang 紅星打字機廠 Red Star Typewriter Factory

  Hua Mei dazi zhuanxiao 華美打字轉校 Chinese-American Typing Institute

  huangdi yong zhi gongwen 皇帝用之公文 clerical documents for use by the emperor

  Huanqiu Huawen daziji zhizaochang 環球華文打字機製造廠 Huanqiu Chinese Typewriter Manufacturing Company

  Huawen daziji 華文打字機 Chinese typewriter

  Hui shi Hua-Ying wen dazi zhuanxiao 惠氏華英打字專校 Mr. Hui’s Chinese-English Typing Institute

  Hu Shi 胡適

  iroha いろは Phonetic system for organizing Japanese kanji

  jian 建 to construct/construction

  jiancha zi fa 檢查字法 character retrieval method

  Jianzhaoshi Huawen daziji 菅沼式華文打字機 Suganuma-style Chinese typewriter

  jianzifa wenti 檢字法問題 character retrieval problem

  jiaoyu 教育 education

  jiatian quezi 加添缺字 to add missing characters

  jiefangjun 解放軍 People’s Liberation Army

  jiguang dayinji 激光打印機 laser printer

  jihua 計畫 plan

  jilu 記錄 record

  jingyan 經驗 experience

  Jin Jian 金簡

  jituanshi 集團式 association style

  jōyō kanji hyō 常用漢字表 List of Characters for General Use

  jue 决 to decide

  kaku yubi no bundan 各指の分担 allocation [of keys] to each finger

  kang Mei yua
n Chao 抗美援朝 Resist America, Aid Korea

  Kangxi zidian 康熙字典 Kangxi Dictionary

  kanji seigen o teishō su 漢字制限を提唱す Advocating the Restriction of the Number of Kanji

  Keimōsha 啓蒙社

  kexingde 可行的 feasible

  laodong 勞動 labor

  lianchuan 連串 series/chain

  lianchuanzi zipan 連串字字盤 connected character tray bed

  liang 量 amount/quantity

  liansuoxing 連鎖性 chainlink style

  lianxi fenzhi 練習分指 practicing fingerwork

  lianyu zipan 聯語字盤 connected language tray bed

  Lin Taiyi 林太乙

  Lin Yutang 林語堂

  Li Zhaofeng 李兆丰

  Mainichi hiragana shinbun 毎日ひらがな新聞 Daily Hiragana News

  Mao zhuxi 毛主席 Chairman Mao

  Ma Shoujian 馬守劍

  Meidi 美帝 American imperialist

  mianji 面積 surface area

  min 民 the people

  Mingji daziji hang 銘記打字機行 Ming Kee Typewriter Company

  minzu 民族 nationality/ethnic group

  minzu shibie 民族識別 Ethnic Classification

  mobi jianzifa 末筆檢字法 Last-Stroke Character Retrieval Method

  moji no oshie 文字の教え The Teaching of Words

  mumi wuse 目迷五色 bewildered

  Nipponshiki 日本式 Japanese-style

  nongye 農業 agriculture

  nüdaziyuan 女打字員 female typist/typewriter girl

  pildam 筆談 brushtalk

  pohuai 破壞 to destroy

  qiangji mosuo 強記摸索 rote memorization and groping around

  Qian Xuantong 錢玄同

  Qian zi jing 千字經 Thousand Character Classic

  qinlüe 侵略 to invade

  Qi Xuan 祁暄

  ren 人 person

  richang yingyong jichu erqian zi 日常應用基礎二千字 2000 Fundamental Everyday Usage Characters

  rinji kokugo chōsakai 臨時国語調査会 Interim Committee on the National Language

  sanmin zhuyi 三民主義 Three People’s Principles

  sanzenji jibiki 三千字字引 The Three Thousand Character Dictionary

  San zi jing 三字經 Trimetrical Classic

  Shanghai Zhongwen daziji zhizaochang lianyingsuo 上海中文打字機製造廠聯營所 Shanghai Chinese Typewriter Manufacturers Association