Chinese mechanical typewriter

[Axtremus]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/nyregion/mingkwai-typewriter-china.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Yk8.erCr.ASI-r0OfVEOh

I didn't think one could exist, yet many apparently do. This article focuses on a specimen called the MingKwai. The inventor Lin Yutang figured out a way to mechanically use 72 keys to type out thousands of Chinese characters. (The biggest Chinese dictionary I am aware of catalogs 50k+ characters; most people believe that about 3k+ characters are enough for day-to-day use. So a typewriter would need to handle at least 3k+ characters to be practical.) The inventor bankrupted himself developing it after failing to sell it to Remington. It has recently been sold to Stanford's museum.

One of these days, I hope I will get to see and try my hands on a mechanical Chinese typewriter.

[Renauda]

Interesting. Like you I was led believe such was never practicable.

[Horace]

Alphabets are a good idea. China's technical debt for pursuing a bad idea continues to mount. Time to get cracking on developing a new language. It's not too late.

[jon-nyc]

This is interesting, and more than mildly so. Kudos on recognizing that and starting a thread about it.

[kluurs]

I've been a lifelong fan of Lin Yutang. He was also a student of religions. I first encountered him as the author of a book on Taoism. He did a nice job of explaining some of the challenges of translating early Chinese. There's a nice Wiki biography of him.