Misunderstood—A Love Letter to Chinese Characters
误解——一本写给汉字的情书
by Ang Chew Yan (洪秋延)
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Year Published: August 2025 Pages: 364pp Language: Simplified Chinese Retail Price: SGD28 (Singapore) Dimensions: 190mm x 130mm ISBN: 978-981-94-2895-3 (Paperback) Buyer Request: Final PDF Available Publisher/Imprint: TrendLit Publishing Rights Available: World Suggested Categorisation: Poetry, Singapore Literature, Chinese Linguistics |
About the Book
311 is not only the lingering echo of ancient poetry—it is also the long tune of this poetry collection dancing with Chinese characters. The central theme of the book is to "unravel" or "decode" Chinese characters. Beyond this, it also unpacks Chinese punctuation marks, strokes, and other elements of the written language. The content drifts between the seen and unseen, between dream and reality.
Through methods such as deconstructing form, meaning, spirit, and sound (including puns and homophones), the author carries out a cathartic dissection of the Chinese characters that have accompanied their growth. The dismantled components—radicals, strokes, inner characters, and visual shapes—are then freely rearranged and woven into poems, fragments of thought, or visual memories.
With concise and economical strokes, the author captures moments of emotion, regret, reflection, and imagination across past, present, and future—bringing fresh perspectives and subtle pleasures to textual symbols that are either overused or so rarely used that they’ve become numb to us. The book invites readers into a limitless space of imagination and reinterpretation.
About the Author/Editor
Ang Chew Yan holds a Master’s degree in Chinese Studies from the National University of Singapore. He is the author of Heartbreak Park (失恋公园) (Singapore: Grassroots Book Room, 1997). He currently teaches in the Mother Tongue Department of an international school, embracing a life of quiet simplicity.
In his earlier years, he worked as a journalist. Perhaps due to the androgynous or slightly feminine tone of his name, he occasionally receives letters addressed to "Miss Ang." He never bothers to correct the mistake—not out of any intent to deceive, but simply going with the flow, letting a beautiful misunderstanding take its course.
We all, in our own ways, misunderstand one another—and misunderstand the world. Male or female? Person or object? Real or imagined? Must every encounter lead to a understanding? A passing moment, a fleeting face—everything, in the end, is chance and transience.
內容简介
311，不仅是古老诗典的余响，也是本诗集与汉字共舞的长歌。全书以“解”汉字为主轴，此外还“解”了汉语的标点符号和笔画等，内容游走于见与不见的梦与现实之中。作者主要通过拆形、拆意、拆神和谐音等解构方式，为伴随其成长的汉字执行了一场淋漓畅快的解剖行动，并把拆卸下来的各种原材料，如部首、笔画、字中字和形状等，随心所欲串联起来，将之编织成一首诗、一段哲思或记忆里的一个画面。作者以其短小精简的笔触捕捉了自己对过去、现在与未来的感动、遗憾、思索与想象，为平素过度使用或鲜少使用而以致近乎麻木无感的文字符号带来另一种解读的可能和情趣，为读者提供了无限的想象空间。
作者简介
洪秋延，国大中文系硕士毕业。著有《失恋公园》（新加坡：草根书室，1997）。现厕身国际学校母语部，无为。早年当过几年记者，或缘于名字少了阳刚味，倾向中性或女性化，偶有读者来函以“Miss Ang”女性称呼，而我也无意予以纠正，非有心欺瞒，只是顺水推舟，成全一个美丽的误解而已。我们都在以各自的方式误解着对方，误解着这世界。是男是女？是人是物？是实是虚？相逢何必得相知？转身，皆偶然，皆过客也。