Mieczysław Jerzy Künstler (1933–2007) was an internationally renowned Polish Sinologist, who published numerous academic and popularized articles and books on China's culture and her languages. Influenced by the French school of Sinology with its focus on philology, linguistics, and translation, Künstler decisively shaped the research of China in Poland in the second half of the 20th century.

• Table of Contents: Editor’s Foreword – About the Author – Introduction to the English Version – Introduction – Chapter 1: Typology, Kinship, and Areal Features – Chapter 2: Writing and Language – Chapter 3: The Oldest Phase of the Chinese Language – Chapter 4: The Archaic Chinese Language – Chapter 5: The Post-Archaic Period – Chapter 6: From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty – Chapter 7: The Middle or Ancient Chinese – Chapter 8: Transitory Times – Chapter 9: The Modern Period – Chapter 10: The Contemporary Pan-national Language – Chapter 11: The Chinese Tower of Babel – Chapter 12: Mandarin Languages – Chapter 13: Southern Chinese Languages – Addendum – Bibliography – Index with Glossary

Mieczysław Jerzy Künstler (1933–2007) was an internationally renowned Polish Sinologist, who published numerous academic and popularized articles and books on China's culture and her languages. Influenced by the French school of Sinology with its focus on philology, linguistics, and translation, Künstler decisively shaped the research of China in Poland in the second half of the 20th century.

• Table of Contents: Editor’s Foreword – About the Author – Introduction to the English Version – Introduction – Chapter 1: Typology, Kinship, and Areal Features – Chapter 2: Writing and Language – Chapter 3: The Oldest Phase of the Chinese Language – Chapter 4: The Archaic Chinese Language – Chapter 5: The Post-Archaic Period – Chapter 6: From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty – Chapter 7: The Middle or Ancient Chinese – Chapter 8: Transitory Times – Chapter 9: The Modern Period – Chapter 10: The Contemporary Pan-national Language – Chapter 11: The Chinese Tower of Babel – Chapter 12: Mandarin Languages – Chapter 13: Southern Chinese Languages – Addendum – Bibliography – Index with Glossary

Mieczysław Jerzy Künstler (1933–2007) was an internationally renowned Polish Sinologist, who published numerous academic and popularized articles and books on China's culture and her languages. Influenced by the French school of Sinology with its focus on philology, linguistics, and translation, Künstler decisively shaped the research of China in Poland in the second half of the 20th century.

• Table of Contents: Editor’s Foreword – About the Author – Introduction to the English Version – Introduction – Chapter 1: Typology, Kinship, and Areal Features – Chapter 2: Writing and Language – Chapter 3: The Oldest Phase of the Chinese Language – Chapter 4: The Archaic Chinese Language – Chapter 5: The Post-Archaic Period – Chapter 6: From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty – Chapter 7: The Middle or Ancient Chinese – Chapter 8: Transitory Times – Chapter 9: The Modern Period – Chapter 10: The Contemporary Pan-national Language – Chapter 11: The Chinese Tower of Babel – Chapter 12: Mandarin Languages – Chapter 13: Southern Chinese Languages – Addendum – Bibliography – Index with Glossary