Why are books rectangular? Why are they narrow at the top and long on the sides? Why do pages advance left to right? Why don't we read lines of text from bottom to top?
It surprised me that a majority texts in the local bookstore in Taiwan still follow a traditional format: pages advance right to left and text is arranged in vertical lines of characters that are also meant to be read right to left.
It also surprised me that this traditional style wasn't limited to academic or classical text. Popular and young adult fiction books were written the same way.
Books in mainland China are mostly written in a western style, right to left, with lines of characters that go along the page from right to left. I like it--this vertical stuff throws my brain for a loop. But it's cool to see that, despite the westernization of so many aspects of eastern culture, Taiwan is sticking to its roots.
the more you know.
How can you read text right to left and up to down and still keep your balance? You must "live magical" in order to stay on your feet when you are living in the mysterious east. A quote from the recent movie, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel applies to any circumstance in life: "it will be all right in the end, and if it is not all right, it is not yet the end." Continue posting!
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