by Elton Song

Chinese, different from western languages, is a syllabic language without an alphabet. How can we create a cipher without an alphabet? How could ancient Chinese hide their secrets and send encrypted messages? Want to learn about the most difficult ciphers to be decrypted in the world? Come into this episode to enjoy the story of General Qi and his amazing Fanqie code, and learn about the profound Chinese history and language.

Resources:

Encryption/ciphers/codes in Chinese by Ethan Heilman

Fanqie by Wikipedia

中古漢語語音教程-17 反切、韻圖 by biopolyhedron [video]

Audio:

BEHIND THE GREAT WALL/Qi Jiguang Documentary by Zhongguo Wu Xue [video]

戚繼光 明朝船堅利炮，福建海戰全殲倭寇，威懾日本300余年 by Lucinda Mueller [video]

Music:

不能说的秘密（live）by JJ Lin [video]

童言无忌（不插电版）by 王以太 [video]

Image: General Qi Jiquang, Wikimedia Commons