Ever wonder how Morse code works in Chinese? Telegraphy nerds, you've come to the right place.

THREAD https://t.co/4ii4hIhoxW

The first thing to know is: Morse code as originally conceived has only a small number of code spaces, enough for English but not for Chinese. /2 https://t.co/mo8a05xxsi

In 1871, a Danish mathematician and French harbormaster invented the 4-digit Chinese telegraph code. /3 https://t.co/BWCKFD8RUb

The 1871 code was based on selecting commonly used Chinese characters and assigning them a unique 4-digit code from 0001 to 9999 (one of them used the Morse codes for digits to transmit). /4 https://t.co/Ctgph3Zv3C

To send a Chinese telegram, then, required a "double translation": from Chinese to the 4-digit code, then the 4-digit code to Morse. /5 https://t.co/hjR0DeSd6H

This placed Chinese at a major disadvantage vis-a-vis other languages when it came to telegraphic speed and cost. /6

There were many experimental alternatives proposed, like "Phonetic Chinese Telegrams," but none of them took hold. The 4-digit code was the basis of Chinese telegraph into the 1970s. /7 https://t.co/QuqeB0USsp

Learn more about it in work by Uluğ Kuzuoğlu and my book The Chinese Typewriter @mitpress (despite the title, it's also about Chinese movable type, telegraphy, lexicography, typewriting, and early computing :) https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262536103/the-chinese-typewriter/