Welcome
Welcome to Nothing Undone. As the header says, it’s an experiment in teaching myself literary Chinese. Through this site I’ll be providing useful readings from classical times as well as glossaries and flashcards in various electronic formats.
Who am I to be doing this? My most relevant qualification is what I’m doing with most of my time these days. I’m a graduate student studying at a well known Chinese university, spending most of my days with my face stuck in a book written long before Gutenberg dovetailed his first joint. This is primarily an outlet for what I’m learning and what I think may be of use to others who may not have the time to enrol in full time classes.
In a similar position? Have something to add? Leave a comment with your contact information and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
Just curious: what textbook are you using? and dictionary?
I’m making what is probably my third attempt at wenyanwen; my dictionary is very detailed, too detailed, really. It almost seems like half the words in wenyanwen/guwen can mean everything.
I’ve got a bit of a collection at this point. I have the usual stuff like 古文观止 for the texts, but then I also have an older book from the 1960s called “A Classical Chinese Reader”. It’s not much good for getting into the details of characters, but again, it’s good for the texts themselves.
The one sort of text book I’ve found that I like is by Paul Rouzer, though the name escapes me.
As for dictionaries, I have a few, but unfortunately until the spring holiday is over, they’re all far out of reach at my other apartment near my university.
I’ll post detailed info on all the books I’m using or have heard I should be using (like Pulleyblank etc) in about a week.