How Do Blind People Read Chinese? 🤔

Discover the captivating story of the Chinese Braille!

Word of the Week: 盲文 (Mángwén) - Braille

Like the rest of the world, China has a community of visually impaired individuals. But how do you read a language made up of thousands of characters when you cannot see them? Well, you don’t.

Chinese Braille is not a character-based writing system but a phonetic one. It transcribes the Pinyin phonetic system into the international Braille alphabet, incorporating syllables and, of course, tones, which are unique to Chinese Braille.

Let’s learn the history of how Braille first entered China together!

The sample of Chinese braille from Xujiahui Park in Shanghai. Most tone marks are omitted, except for a few places that may cause confusion.

中国汉语盲文产生于何时？最早的是谁？迄今仍无定论。但从可靠的文字记载中可以看出，中国最早出现的盲文点字是“舶来品”。1874年，英国传教士穆威廉 (William Hill Murray) 在北京办起了“启明瞽目院”( Hill Murray Instute for the Blind)，即现在的北京市盲人学校的前身。它是中国的第一所盲人学校。

• 盲文 (mángwén): Braille

• 研制者 (yánzhìzhě): Developer/Creator

• 迄今 (qìjīn): Up to now/So far

• 舶来品 (bólaípǐn): Imported goods

• 传教士 (chuánjiàoshì): Missionary

When did Chinese braille originate? Who was the first to create it? There is still no definitive answer. However, from reliable written records, it can be seen that the earliest braille dots in China were "imports." In 1874, British missionary William Hill Murray established the "Hill Murray Institute for the Blind" in Beijing, which was the predecessor of the current Beijing School for the Blind. It was the first school for the blind in China.

穆威廉为向盲人传教，从国外运来了用英文字母印制的《圣经》和英文盲字《圣经》。此后，一位中国盲人教师同外国传教士合作，以英文盲字符号为范例，并按照《康熙字典》的音序编排出以北京话为基础的汉语盲字，全部音节408个。这即是中国最早的汉语盲文，叫做“康熙盲字”，又称“北京盲字”，或简称“408”。

• 圣经 (shèngjīng): Bible

• 康熙字典 (Kāngxī zìdiǎn): Kangxi Dictionary

• 音序 (yīn xù): Phonetic order

• 音节 (yīnjié): Syllable

William Hill Murray imported Bibles printed in English letters and English braille Bibles from abroad to preach to the blind. Later, a Chinese blind teacher collaborated with foreign missionaries, using English braille symbols as a model and arranged the Chinese braille based on the phonetic order of the Kangxi Dictionary, using the Beijing dialect as the foundation. This system included 408 syllables and was the earliest form of Chinese braille, called "Kangxi Braille," also known as "Beijing Braille," or simply "408."

1897年，一位国籍不详的女传教士岳艾美，在福州开办了一所盲人学校。为方便教学，她采用汉语拼音的方法，研制出一套专门拼写福州话的盲文，叫做“福州盲字”。这是一套方言盲文，共有30多个字母，每个音节由两个或两个以上点符组成。1911年前后，岳艾美又对它进行了改造，字母增至53个，还增加了7个声调符号。约在1920年时，她又提出了一些符号简写方法，简写词前后用空方加以表示，这可以说是汉语盲文要分词连写的最初雏形。

• 分词 (fēncí): Word segmentation

• 雏形 (chúxíng): Prototype/Early form

In 1897, a female missionary named Amy Yuet, whose nationality is unknown, established a school for the blind in Fuzhou. To facilitate teaching, she developed a braille system using the phonetic method of Chinese pinyin, specifically for the Fuzhou dialect, called "Fuzhou Braille." This was a dialect-based braille system with more than 30 letters, and each syllable was composed of two or more braille dots. Around 1911, Amy Yuet modified the system, increasing the number of letters to 53 and adding 7 tone marks. By about 1920, she proposed some shorthand methods for the symbols, using spaces before and after simplified words. This could be considered the earliest form of segmenting words in Chinese braille.

1900年，英国的女传教士葛尔南（Miss Ganland），她采用汉语拼音的方法编排出了一套拼写南京话的盲文，并给它取了一个漂亮而吉祥的名字，叫“心目克明”，意即心灵和眼睛都能看见。这套盲字共有54个字母，其中声母18个，韵母36个。多数声、韵调各占一方，共三方，韵母独立成音节时占两方。1911年成立的上海盲校，当时即用这种盲文。该校还以此印制小学课本等书籍，由此客观上推动了各地盲校普遍使用这种盲文。20年代末，上海盲人教师王湘源博士曾以“心目克明”为基础，参照“康熙盲字”的标调方法，拟订出一套“心目克明两方字”。这种两方字在两方音符内既标出南京话的5个声调，又保持着声母与韵母符形上的联系。一度在上海盲人中广为流传，很受欢迎。这应该说是我国最早出现的声韵调双拼的汉语盲文。

• 心灵 (xīnlíng): Soul/Heart

• 声母 (shēngmǔ): Initial (consonant)

• 韵母 (yùnmǔ): Final (vowel)

• 拟订 (nǐdìng): Draft/Propose

In 1900, a British female missionary named Miss Ganland created a braille system for the Nanjing dialect using the phonetic method of Chinese pinyin. She gave it a beautiful and auspicious name, "Xinmu Keming," which means that both the heart and the eyes can see. This braille system had 54 letters, including 18 initials and 36 finals. Most of the initials, finals, and tones were arranged in three groups, with finals forming independent syllables in two groups. The Shanghai School for the Blind, founded in 1911, used this braille system, and the school also printed primary school textbooks using it. This contributed to the widespread adoption of this braille system in blind schools across the country.

In the late 1920s, Dr. Wang Xiangyuan, a blind teacher from Shanghai, developed a two-group version of "Xinmu Keming" based on this system and referencing the tonal notation methods of "Kangxi Braille." This two-group system not only marked the five tones of the Nanjing dialect within two groups of phonetic symbols but also maintained the structural relationship between the initials and finals. It became quite popular among the blind in Shanghai for a time and can be considered the earliest dual-initial and tone-marking Chinese braille system.

除上述几种汉语盲文外，这一时期出现了粤语盲文、客家话、五方元音等地方方言盲文。这些汉语方言盲文都有自身的缺陷和较大的局限性，盲人拼写又十分混乱，不便流传和推广。总而言之，1949年以前，中国盲人没有统一使用的、规范的盲人文字。

• 缺陷 (quēxiàn): Defect/Flaw

• 局限性 (júxiànxìng): Limitations/Constraints

In addition to the aforementioned types of Chinese braille, this period also saw the emergence of braille systems for Cantonese, Hakka, and other dialects like "Wufang Yuanyin" (Five-Dialect Vowels). However, each of these Chinese dialect braille systems had its own flaws and significant limitations. The spelling among blind individuals was highly inconsistent, making these systems difficult to spread and promote. In short, before 1949, there was no standardized, unified braille system used by blind individuals in China.

1949年以后，盲人文字的整理、研究也提到了一定的议事日程。1952年，教育部盲哑教育处黄乃等人，在过去以南京话为拼音标准的“心目克明”盲字的基础上，提出了以北方话为基础、以北京语音为标准、实行分词连写的《新盲字方案》。这套方案共有52个字母，每个音节一般由声、韵两个点符构成，采用分词连写方法。遇到同音字和生僻字时，可加声调符号以示区别。1953年底，《新盲字方案》得到了国家的批准。至此，中国大陆的盲人有了自己统一的文字。《新盲字方案》的推行，为中国盲人教育以及盲人学文化、学科学技术等发挥了重要作用。这套盲文已历经40多年，迄今不衰，被人们称作“现行盲文”。

• 议事日程 (yìshì rìchéng): Agenda

• 盲哑 (mángyǎ): Blind and deaf

• 同音字 (tóngyīnzì): Homophones

• 生僻字 (shēngpìzì): Rare characters

• 批准 (pīzhǔn): Approval

• 迄今不衰 (qìjīn bù shuāi): Endured to this day/Remains strong to this day

After 1949, the organization and research of braille for the blind became a part of the formal agenda. In 1952, Huang Nai and others from the Ministry of Education's Division of Education for the Blind and Deaf proposed the "New Braille Scheme" based on the earlier "Xinmu Keming" braille, which used the Nanjing dialect as the phonetic standard. This new scheme, however, was based on Northern Chinese and standardized with the Beijing dialect's phonetics, implementing a method of connected word writing. The system contained 52 letters, with each syllable typically represented by two braille dots for the initial and final sounds, and a connected writing method was employed. To distinguish homophones and rare characters, tone marks could be added. By the end of 1953, the "New Braille Scheme" received official approval from the state.

From this point on, blind individuals in mainland China had a unified writing system. The implementation of the "New Braille Scheme" played a crucial role in the education of blind people, helping them learn culture, science, and technology. This braille system has endured for over 40 years and continues to be widely used, now referred to as the "current braille."

Along with some cool Chinese vocabulary, we also hope you enjoyed this part of the history of an often forgotten community!

Antoine & Dorota