yuánzì Chinese characters of the chemical elements

化學鑑原 Huàxué Jiànyuán, 1871

Xú Shòu (徐壽) & John Fryer (傅蘭雅), Jiangnan Arsenal

The most influential chemistry text of nineteenth-century China, translated from Wells at the Jiangnan Arsenal. Section 29 sets out the rule still in force: take the first syllable of the Western name, write it with one character, and add a radical for the class. Of its 64 names, 41 to 44 survive today.

Nagasaki University Library scan ↗

Forms attested here (28)