Used as a standard by students and teachers in learning Chinese for more than three decades, the bestselling <I>Reading & Writing Chinese</I> has been completely revised and updated!<P><I>Reading & Writing Chinese</I> places at your fingertips the essential 1,725 Chinese characters' up-to-date definitions, derivations, pronunciations, and examples of correct usage by means of cleverly condensed grids. This guide also focuses on Pinyin, which is the official system to transcribe Hanzi, Chinese characters, into Latin script, now universally used in mainland China and Singapore. Traditional characters (still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong) are also included, making this a complete reference.<P>Newly updated and revised, these characters are the ones officially prescribed by the Chinese government for the internationally recognized test of proficiency in Chinese, the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK).<P> Key features of this newly-expanded edition include:<P><UL><LI> More mnemonic phrases and etymologies to help you remember the characters</LI><LI> An extensive introduction, alphabetical index, and index according to stroke count and stroke order</LI><LI> Completely updated/expanded English definitions</LI><LI> Convenient quick-reference tables of radicals</LI><LI> Updated and revised compounds, plus 25% more vocabulary now offered</LI><LI> Codes to assist those who are preparing for the AP exam or the HSK exam</UL>