American “Uncle Hanzi” inaugurates studio for learning Chinese characters in China’s Nanjing

Having devoted almost 50 years to learning and disseminating the pictographic origins of Hanzi, or Chinese characters, American Hanzi expert Richard Sears, who has earned the nickname “Uncle Hanzi,” inaugurated his studio in Nanjing, capital city of east China’s Jiangsu province, on Sept. 17.

Photo shows Richard Sears inaugurating his studio in Nanjing, east China’s Jiangsu province. (Photo/Yang Bo)

At the inauguration ceremony, the septuagenarian from the US state of Tennessee shared his stories about Chinese characters. Sears began to learn the Chinese language when he was 22 and then started to devote himself to making Hanzi etymology available online. Later, he launched his own Hanzi etymology website (hanziyuan.net). This continuously updated database of ancient Chinese characters boasts about 100,000 ancient Chinese character forms, and has garnered users from over 170 countries and regions.

In 2019, Sears came to Nanjing and started using digital technologies such as augmented reality (AR) in his research of the etymology of Chinese characters. He developed Chinese Character Origin Cards, a product that combines AR and animation. By scanning these cards, people can watch animations showing how the characters evolved from the pictographs carved on ancient oracle bones to the ones used in modern day, which brings the Chinese characters back to life.

Richard Sears shares his stories about Chinese characters. (Photo/Yang Bo)

Sears said he hopes to apply more technologies, including the newest generation of information technologies, artificial intelligence, AR and virtual reality to provide high-quality learning materials on Chinese characters and spread the culture associated with them.

“Chinese characters do not just belong to China. They belong to the whole world,” he added.

He Yong, former head of the United Nations Chinese language group, extended congratulatory remarks on the inauguration of Sears’ studio via a video call. He said learning the Chinese language can be a hard undertaking for foreigners and Uncle Hanzi has made a good attempt at enabling Westerners to better understand the culture underpinning the language.