CHAPTER Ⅷ

TRANSLITERATION AND ENTRY OF CHINESE CHARACTERS

The problem of adapting western library technique to Chinese books presents two phases. If the Chinese books and their catalogue are entirely independent, accepted Chinese conventions can be followed, without causing many untoward consequences. But if these books are incorporated with occidental books to form a single library unit, special attention should be given to the topics as discussed in the foregoing, in addition to the question of transliteration whereby the Chinese material can be associated with that of the occidental language, such as in the general library catalogue.

Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as transliteration of Chinese. The term refers to a process of recording in a western phonetic script the Chinese sounds given to a particular ideogram or series of ideograms. But since the word is so well established for this process, we shall continue to use it.

Transliteration is the link by which the Chinese language can be written in the English alphabet. Without it no Chinese name, term, book-title can be expressed in occidental languages at all. If there were only one Chinese spoken language this would be a simple matter, but since pronunciation varies widely from province to province, various different standards of transliteration have been proposed and rival systems introduced.

The generally accepted system for romanizing Chinese is the Wade system which is well-known not only to western sinologists but also among the educated Chinese who have some knowledge of English. Its author was Sir Thomas Francis Wade, a man of varied accomplishments. Born in London, England, he inherited a remarkably tenacious memory and a great love of languages from his father, Colonl Thomas Wade of the Forty-second Highlanders. At the age of five, he began a regular course of study, including Latin. In 1837 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge; but at the end of a year he thought himself best fitted for a military career, and was subsequently sent to Corfu with the corps of his father where he studied Italian and modern Greek. In 1841 he was commissioned a lieutenant and transferred to the Ninety-eighth regiment of infantry.

Upon orders for active service in China, he started for the Far East with his regiment on December 20, 1841, and reached Hongkong in June, 1842. It was during this somewhat long journey that he became interested in the study of Chinese. After his military duties were finished in that year, he was sent temporarily to Hongkong where his knowledge of Chinese language qualified him as interpreter to the British garrison. From that time onward, he served as Chinese secretary to Sir John Davis, vice-consul at Shanghai, staff member of the British Legation at Peking, and eventually British minister to China from 1871-1883. Thereupon he returned to England and took up his residence at Cambridge.1

The life of Wade was one of action, rather than of leisure. Yet he is known today as the originator of the system of transliteration bearing his name. In 1859 he was the author of the Peking syllabary,2 a collection of the Chinese characters in romanized form, representing the dialect of Peking. Because of his official position and personal influence, his ideas in the matter met with a hearty reception, and the rival system,

1. For further details of his life, see Dictionary of national biography (New York; Macmillan, 1885-1900).

2. Thomas Francis Wade, The Peking syllabary (Hongkong: 1859). In the preface, the author stated:”This is an alphabetic index assumed to contain all the sounds in Chinese as spoken by natives of Peking, arranged under 397 syllabic classes, subdivided according to the law of the four tones of the Peking dialect….”

though some of them had long been employed, were gradually abandoned. Giles’ Chinese-English dictionary,1 in conformity with the Wade’s system, and similar publications, have definitely established the system, and placed it within the easy reach of all who are interested.

Where the Wade system of romanization is consistently followed, catalogue cards will take the following forms given below. Such cards can of course be incorporated with those for books in western languages. Thus, our first sample would file naturally after Chrysostom’s Homilies and before Church’s Essays.

SAMPLE AUTHOR CARD

CALL

Chu

His, or Chu chung-hui, or Chu Hsin-an, or

NO

Chu Hui-an, or Chu Hui-weng, or Chu Wen-Kung, or Chu Yüan-hui, or Yün Ku Shan Jen (1130-1200)

Hui an chi: Collected writings of the author.

Shanghai, Commercial Press, 1928. 50 ts’e in 5t’ao.

Note:—(This card should be 5’’× 3’’)

1. Herbert Allen Giles, A Chinese English dictionary (London: B. Quaritch, 1892).

2. In the author entry, all the names of an author may well be pointed out, in order to establish completely the identity of the author. Cross-references from various name forms must be generaously supplied. It should be noted that, with regard to the position of the Chinese surname (or family name), the Chinese way is to put it at the front, following the convenient order used in dictionaries, while the daily practice in the West is to put it at the last. With the growth of international understanding it is now a matter of taste whether a Chinese prefers to stick to his surname at the beginning, or at the end, in the romanized form. In whichever position, a common practice of procedure is to insert between the two characters composing the name a hyphen; for, without it, very often the wrong character is taken to be the surname.

SAMPLE REFERENCE CARD

Chu Chung-hui

Chu

See

Hsi

SAMPLE TITLE CARD1

CALL

Chü shih chi; or, Ou yang wen chung

NO

Ch’ üan chi: A complete collection of

the writings of Ou-yang Hsiu. 1927

20 ts’e in 2 t’ao

Ou-yang Hsiu (1007-1072)

1. Because titles are relatively more important in Chinese practice, a fuller treatment than European conditions call for may be necessary. It has been suggested either to capitalize all the characters, or only the first character, of the whole title.

SAMPLE SUBJECT CARD1

CALL

ETHICS-HISTORY-CHINA

NO

Ts’ai Yüan-p’ei (1867-

Chung kuo lun li hsüeh shih: History of

Chinese ethics. Shanghai, Commercial Press, 1927. v. p

In spite of the wide usage of the Wade system, it is not difficult to find many criticisms. One objection is that it represents only a dialectic pronunciation (the local usage of Peiping) in preference to the standard form which can be found in the K’ang hsi dictionary.2 A second defect is its use of uncouth signs, umlauts, apostrophes and

1. Pending the publication of a list of subject headings in Chinese, most Chinese librarians are adopting one of the two measures, to wit: (1) to use the shelf list as the key to the subject of the books, or (2) to make a list of their own subject headings, adding new ones when necessary.

2. One of the earlier sinologists who objected the adoption of the Peiping dialect for romanization was W. F. Mayers, when he said, “It must be obvious that when we wish to reduce a language to writing, recourse must be had, where possible, to recognized rules of arrangement, and to those of the most universal application. The dictionaries supply us with these; the dialects diverge from them….” G. Schlegel, On the extended use of “The Peking system of orthography” for the Chinese language, T’oung Pao, Ⅵ (1805), 504.

double consonants.1 The third fault is the adoption of unnecessary letters or sounds of letters rarely met with in the English language.2

As might be expected, there are several attempts on foot to modify the Wade system. One that appears to be widely known is the proposal of Charles S. Gardner.3 According to him, the minimum changes are as follows:―4

Wade: Initial p-, t-, k-, ts Proposed: b-, d-, g-, dz-

P’-, t’-, k’-, ts’-p-, t-, k-, ts-

ch-j- and dz-

ch’- ch-’ ’ ts-

hs-hs-’ ’ s-

j- r-

Final-jh-ir

-su, -zu, z’u -z

According to the author of this revised system, “The changes herewith suggested in the Wade system are all so regular that it is believed that interpose no obstacle between the student and the tools of study which now employ it. They are believed to represent the minimum alteration necessary to make that system available not merely to students, who along have been considered in the past, but also to a press of which the practical influence and importance cannot be exaggerated.” In the meantime it is well to bear in mind that, no matter how excellent any system of transliteration may be in theory, its success rested upon its widespread adoption.

1. Such as hsüeh (to learn), t’u (illustration), etc.

2. The Wade system of transliteration is largely based on the alphabet of continental Europe. For example jen (man); the initial j is similar to French jour, with the tip of the tongue resting a little more backwards. Hence it is near the English r, as ren. Thus, without knowing the intention of the author, serious confusion often results.

3. Charles S. Gardner, A modern system for the romanization of Chinese (Boston: The Author, 1930).

4. Ibid., p. 10.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dictionary of national biography, edited by various persons. N. Y. Macmillan, 1885-1900. 6ov.

Gardner, Charles S. A modern system for the Romanization of chiese. Boston, The Author, 1930. IIP.

Giles, Herbert Allen. A catalogue of the Wade colleciotn of Chinese and Manshu books in the library of the University of Cambridge. Cambridge, Unviversity Press, 1898. 169p.

Giles, Herbert Allen. A Chinese English dictionary. London, B. Quaritch, 1892. 1415p.

Giles, Herbert Allen. A history of Chinese literature. N. Y. Appleton, 1924. 448p.

Mateer, C. W. A course in mandarin lessons. Shanghai, American Presbyterian Mission Press, 1909. 786p.

Sapir, Edward. Language. N. Y. Harcourt, Brace&co., 1921. 258p.

Schegel, G. On the extended use of “The Peking system of orthography” for the Chinese language. Leide, T’pung Pao, VI(1895), 499-508.

Wade, Thomas Francis. The Peking syllabary. Hongkong, 1859. 83p.

Williams, S. Wells. A syllabic dictionary of the Chinese language. Peking, North China Union College, 1909. 1056p.

Wylie, A. Notes on Chinese literature. Shanghai, American Presbyterian Mission press，1897. 260p.

CONCLUSION

This study rests upon at least two assumptions. It assumes that the many Chinese books in America libraries do not lack readers, and that the number of these readers will increase. It also assumes that there is expert professional help available in American libraries for handling Chinese books.

The whole study can be concluded along two lines: first, in terms of the important facts disclosed; and second, in terms of the implications of these facts with respect to the treatment of Chinese books in American libraries.

DISCLOSURES OF THE INVESTIGATION

1. The investigation has shown that Chinese books differ widely from the bibliographical standards of European volumes, because of the language, script, arrangement of the text, writing materials and methods of book-production.

2.The investigation has further pointed out the specific differences arising from the Chinese bibliographical conventions, in relation to author, title and imprint. The greatest differences arise (1) from the complications involved by Chinese family and personal names, (2) from the relatively greater importance of Chinese book titles, and (3) from the peculiarities of Chinese chronology.

3.This investigation has also brought out bibliographical importance of the Chinese text, whether it is written in classical or colloquial language.

4.The evidence shows that there is a wide divergence in methods of cataloguing and classification, and the criticism of the methods, for both merits and defects, involves a basis for practical selection, in accordance with the needs of a particular library field.

5.The peculiarities of Chinese binding and shelving customs involve necessarily many concrete administrative problems. Here again only a critical summary of advantages and disadvantages of various practices is offered. Choice of a particular method will depend upon contingent conditions.

6.This study has revealed that the arrangement of Chinese characters is extremely complex. All the Chinese characters can be arraged according th their meaning, or sound, or form, though the last item is considered to be more practical.

7.The investigation has indicated that translation is link whereby the Chinese language can be written in English. Without it no Chinese character, name, or title can be expressed in an alphabetical language at all. The generally accepted system for romanizing Chinese is the Wade system.

IMPLICATION OF THE INVESTIGATION

In the preceding pages an attempt has been made to discuss the various American libraries which have collections of Chinese books and the nature of the problems confronting them. An analysis of the facts strongly indicates as practical two distinct methods of treatment; namely, (1) either to group Chinese books separately and classify them independently; (2) or to mingle them with the publications in occidental languages according to their subject matter.

The outstanding advantages of the first alternative are threefold. (1) Since the Chinese language is so different from English, it is hard to associate the two in a general catalogue. With so few common elements, it is better to treat the Chinese material as a separate unit. (2) Heretofore no provision has been made in western library technique to deal with Chinese bibliographical elements which are of a different nature from those of the West. The lack of such provision involves great difficulties. (3) To group Chinese books together by language takes advantage of what organization has already been accomplished by Chinese scholars and librarians and presents no serious obstacles to future development.

If the fist method is preferred in an American library, the only major problems involved would be cataloguing, classification, binding and arrangement of Chinese characters. There are practically the same as those met by libraries in China having exclusively Chinese books.

Should the second alternative be adopted, these points may be made in its favor. (1) It avoids a parallelism in library administration, notably the use of two catalogues and two classification schemes. (2) It does not emphasize a distinction of secondary importance. Librarianship is concerned with the organization of knowledge, and not with language. (3) It tends to promote internationalism by placing books of all nationalities together, with the expectation that the wisdom of the East and the West may be amalgamated.

The effectiveness of the plan of incorporating Chinese books with those in other languages depends upon these factors, namely, (a) the gradual disappearance of those bibliographical elements of Chinese books, such as binding, which are different from the standard western works; (b) the modification and advancement of western library technique, and system of transliteration used

APPENDIX Ⅰ

CHINESE LIBRARY AND LITERARY DEVELOPMENT VISUALIZED

CHINESE

POLITICAL

HISTORY

CAPITAL

CHINESE LIBRARY

AND LITERARY

ACTIVITIES

WORLD

HISTORY

Legendary

Emperors

Uncertain

“Knotted-cords”

Use of silk; Adoption

of writing

Old Egyptian

Civilization;

Abraham

Yao & Shun

(2357-2208 B.C.)

In Shansi

Folklore of Yao &

Shun

Hsia

(2208-1766 B.C.)

In Shansi

Promotion of

learning

Hammurabi &

His code

Shang

(1766-1122 B.C)

In Honan

Beginning of lyric

poetry

Babylonia

Moses

Chou

(1122-249 B.C)

Sian &

Loyang

Bamboo and wooden

Slips; Confucius &

other philosophers

Solomon;

Socrates &

His disciples;

Buddha;

Alexander,

The Great

Ch’in

(249-206 B.C.)

Hsien-yang

In Shensi

Writing simplified;

Brush pen improved;

Silk rolls; Burning

of books

Asoka of

India

Han

(B.C. 206-A.D. 220)

Sian &

Loyang

Invention of paper;

Imperial library

development; Stone

tablets; Library

techniques

China &

Japan;

Caesar;

Christ

San kuo & Liu ch’ao

(220-389)

Loyang;

Chengtu;

Wuchang;

Nanking;

Shensi;

Honan;

Shansi

Use of ink from

lamp black; Four-

Treasure classifica-

tion system

Dark ages in

Europe

CHINESE

POLITICAL

HISTORY

CAPITAL

CHINESE LIBRARY

AND LITERARY

ACTIVITIES

WORLD

HISTORY

Sui (589-618)

Sian &

Loyang

Further Imperial

Library Development

Power of

Clergy

T’ang

(618-907)

Sian &

Loyang

Age of poetry; Xylography;

Enlargement of Four-Treasure

Classification system

Mohammed;

Charlemagne

Wu Tai

(907-960)

Loyang

&

Kaifeng

932-53 Printing by

Blocks by Feng Tao

(881-954)

Normans in

England

Sung

(960-1280)

Kaifeng

&

Hangchow

High tide of xylography;

1040-1049 Invention of

movable type by Pi Sheng

First crusade;

magna charta

Yüan

(1280-1368)

Peking

Age of novels and

drama

Mongol Conquest;

Marco Polo

Ming

(1368-1644)

Peking;

Nanking

Yung Lo Ta Tien, an

Encyclopedia of 22,-

877 chüan

Koster; Guten-

berg; Discovery

of America

Ch’ing

(1644-1911)

Peking

Apex of imperial

Library development;

Ssu K’u catalogue;

Western contacts

Growth of British

Empire; Birth of

U.S.A.; Industrial Revolution

Republic

(1911 to date)

Peking;

Nanking

Literary Revolution

Movement; Mass Education

Movement; Modern Library

Movement

Expansion of

Modern sciences

APPENDIX Ⅱ

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL GLOSSARY

Ch’ao p’ei pen 钞配本

Ch’ap pen钞本

Cheng wen正文

Cheng wu 正误

Chia pan夹板

Chiao k’an 校勘

Chiao pen校本

Chiao ting pen校订本

Chiao tui校对

Chieh解

Chien hsiu监修

Chien pen监本

Chien t’ao检讨

Chien tsao 监造

Chien tzu检字

Chih纸

Ch’ih chuan 敕撰

Chin hsiang pen巾箱本

Ch’in ting钦定

Ching ch’ao精钞

Ching fang经房

Ching pen 精板

Ch’ou chen pen袖珍版

Chu 注

Chu che 著者

Chu che Chuan著者权

Chu mo pen 朱墨板

Ch’u pan初本

Ch’u yin 初印

Ch’ung k’an(or k’e)重刊；重刻

Ch’ung ting重订

Chu chen pan聚珍本

Chuan 卷

Fa hsing发行

Fan I翻译

Fan k’e翻刻

Fan li 凡例

Fan pan 翻本

Fan tioa(or Fan yin)翻雕；翻印

Fang pen坊本

Fen lei分类

Fen tsuan分纂

Fu 附

Fu chu附注

Fu pen覆本

Hei k’ou pen黑口本

Ho chu che合著者

His tzu pen 细字本

Hsiao tzu pen 小字本

Hsieh pen 写本

Hsin hsiu新修

Hsin k’an新刊

Hsin ting新订

Hsu 序

Hsu lieh 序列

Hsu pien 续篇

Hui t’u绘图

Huo tzu pan活字板

K’an刊

K’an hsing刊行

K’an hsiu pen 刊修本

K’an pen 刊本

Kao pen稿本

K’e 刻

K’e pen 刻本

Kuan k’an pen 官刊本

Kuan pen官本

Kuan shu chu 官书局

Kuang yuan 公元

Liu t’ung流通

Lueh mu略目

Ma sha pen麻沙本

Mien面

Mo 墨

Mo k’an募刊

Mo k’an pen 募刊本

Mo pen 墨本

Mu lu 目录

Mu lueh 目略

Nei fu k’an pen 内府刊本

Nien chi 年纪

P’ai tzu 排字

Pan板

Pan chuan版权

Pan pen 板本

Pen本

Pi 笔

Piao 表

Piao t’I 标题

Pien编

Pien chi 编辑

Pien hsiu 编修

Pien mu编目

P’ien篇

Po 跋

Pu部

San se pen 三色本

Shan jpen 善本

Shih hsing施行

Shih hang pen 拾行本

Shih tsang pen 释藏本

Shih yin石印

Shou ch’ao pen 手抄本

Shou kao pen手稿本

Shou shu 手书

Shu chu 书局

Shu k’u 书库

Shu ming书名

Shu mu书目

Shu mu p’ien书目片

Shua yin刷印

So yin索引

Sung pen 宋本

Ta tzu pen大字本

Tan hsing单行

Tan pen单本

Tao tsang pen 道藏本

T’ao 套

T’I题

Tiao雕

T’iao li 条例

Tien pen, or pan 殿本；殿板

Ting 订

Tsai pan再板

Ts’an kao 参考

Ts’an pen残本

Ts’ang pan 藏板

Ts’ang pen 藏本

Ts’ang shu chia 藏书家

Ts’ang shu chih 藏书志

Ts’e册

Tseng ting 增订

Tsuan hsiu 纂修

Tsung ts’ai总裁

Ts’ung shu 丛书

T’u shu kuan图书馆

T’u shu kuan hsueh 图书馆学

T’ung hsing pen 通行本

Tzu次

Wu sse pen 五色本

Yeh 页

Yin 印

Yin hsing印行

Yin pen印本

Yin shua印刷

Yin sung印送

Yin tsao 印造

Ying pen影本

Yu Chih 御制

Yu pi 御笔

Yu chuan 御撰

Yu ting 御定

Yuan kao pen原稿本

Yuan pen原本

INDEX

Agassiz, J.L.R., 31

Arrangement of characters, 108

Author, 100

Author card, 118

Author table, 101

Bibliographical glossary 128

Binding, 57,104

Block printing, 53

Book catalog, 91

Boxer indemnity, 4

Brush, 51

Buddhism, 76

Buddhist names, 74

Buddhist sutras, 57

Butterfly binding, 104

Calendar, 80

Californai, University of, 29, 36, 40

Card catalog, 91

Carpentier, H.W., 21,32

Cataloguing, 91

Censorship, 61

Chang Tsung-ch’ang, 9

Characters, Chinese, 47,108,116

Chase, George, 27

Chen, Q.K., 15

Ch’en Pao-shen, 19

Chinese government, 3

Chiu, A.K., 27

Clemons, H., 15

Classical style, 85

Classics, 52

Classification, 93

Colloquial style, 85

Colophon, 59, 78

Columbia University, 20, 36, 40

Commercial Press, 60, 80

Congress, Library of, 1

Copyright, 65

Crane, C.R., 8

Cross references, 118

Cushing, Caleb 2

Date, 80

Dean Lung, 21

Dedication, 59

Dewey’s classification, 99

Dialecs, 88

Doo Ding-u, 101

Duke University, 36

Filing, 108

Four-corner system, 113

Four-treasure system, 93

Fryer, John, 31

Fung Hing-kwai, 13

Gardner, C.S., 121

Gest, G.M., 18

Gest library, 17, 40

Giles, H.A., 23

Gillis,I.V.,19

Hall, C.M., 27

Hartford Th.Seminary, 36

Harvard University, 25,40

Hefter, John, 24

Hirth, F., 23

Hsun Hsu, 93

Hu, T.C.S., 100

Huang Ti, 81

Imprint, 80

Indexing, 108

Ink, 50

John Crerar Library, 12

Johnson, N.T., 8

K’ang His dictionary, 47

Kiang Kang-hu, 9, 15, 32

Ko Kun-hua, 25

Kwei, C.B., 17, 25

Labeling, 106

Laufer, B., 12, 18, 34

Li Siao-yuan, 16

Li Yuan-hung, 24

Library chart, 126

Library of Congress, 1, 36, 40

Low, Seth, 21

McGill University, 17

Name, 73

National Education Asso., 87

N.Y. Metropolitan Museum, 36

New York Public Library, 36

Newberry Library, 33, 36, 40

Niu Hung, 76

Notation, 99,101

Pen –brush, 51

Phonetics, 110

Pi Sheng, 55

Piracy, 65

Postscript, 78

Printing, 49, 59

Pronunciation, 85, 109, 116

Publication, 61

Punctuation, 88

Putnam. H., 2

Radicals, 111

Rockhill, W.W., 6,7

Romanization, 19,116

Rosier, Bbbe, 92

Seng, S.T.Y., 100

Shelving, 106

Smithsonian Institution, 11

Spurious books, 75

Ssu, k’u, 93

Stabbed binding, 57

Subject headings, 120

Surnames, 73

Swingle, W.T., 10, 24

Sze, P.T.Y., 9

Tai, C.T., 100

T’ang Shao-yi, 5

Taoist names, 74

Text, 85

Textual criticism, 89

Thomas, J.A., 36

Title. 77

Title card, 119

Tompkins, E., 30

Tones, 109

Transliteration, 19, 116

Tseng Kuo-fan, 101

Ts’ung shu, 10

T’u shu chi cheng, 6, 23, 74

T’ung chih, 2

Typewriter, 93

Wade, T.F. 116

Wang, K.P., 15

Williams, S.W., 35

Wong, W.S., 100

Wong, Y.W., 113

Xylography , 52

Yale University, 35

Yen His-shan, 9

Yip, Eurice, 33

Young, J.R., 3

Yuan, T.L., 16

Yua Shih-kai, 65

Yung character, 112

Yung Wing, 35

VITA

Chih-Ber Kwei1 (桂质柏) was born in Wuchang, Hupeh, China, in 1900. After he finished his college education in China, he went to the United States of America in the fall of 1926, as a graduate student in the School of Library Service, Columbia University, New York City, from which institution he received his Master of Science degree in June, 1928. While there, he served as the editor-in-chief of the Chinese Student Bulletin, published by the Chinese Students’ Club of Columbia University. From 1928 to 1929, he visited Canada, cataloguing the Gest Chinese Research Library, McGill University, Montreal. In September, 1929, he came to the University of Chicago and resumed his graduate work in the Graduate Library School.

1. For fuller information, see who’s who in China (4th ed.; Shanghai; ChinaWeekly Review, 1931), p. 212-3

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