So yesterday, I was giving a lecture on Lin Yutang and his MingKwai typewriter and a student informed me that, apparently, it had been found.

Let me elaborate: The MingKwai was a revolutionary machine that could be used to type a theoretical maximum of 90 000 Chinese characters, almost twice as much as in Imperial China's largest dictionary. The legacy of its "Magic Eye" viewfinder system and Lin's statistical analysis can still be seen in how Chinese is written on computers today. According to Thomas S. Mullaney, it marked the birth of "input". Its only prototype was believed to have been lost, possibly thrown away or disassembled for parts.

And it was found. In a basement in New York. This January.

*high-pitched noises*

Original Facebook post that is either reporting the find or a very elaborate scam: https://www.facebook.com/groups/127768622643436/permalink/950194670400823/?rdid=WoJvYLekDUuGmSYh&share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2Fp%2F19qjBZdYpj%2F

Blog post by Richard Polt with pictures: https://writingball.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-discovery-of-lin-yutangs-mingkwai.html

Useless quote for 17 Dec:

"The scamp will be the last and most formidable enemy of dictatorships."

~ Lin Yutang (林語堂, 林语堂), in "The Importance of Living" (1937)

(a scamp = a rascal; one who is playfully mischievous)

The Precious Few
“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.” ― Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living

The older I get, the less I care about the accumulation of things like accolades and titles and possessions. Sure, it's nice to have that crystal bowl gifted to my bride and I when we got marr
https://alexandersmap.com/2024/04/21/the-precious-few/
#Lifestyle #LinYutang

#Books #Novels #JohnSteinbeck #JefferyEugenides #JohnBunyan #MayaAngelou #LinYutang #China

Some interesting "finds" . . .

6 books that I bought for just $3 at the Great Valley Bookfest in Manteca this morning.