Book excerpt: The complete book of Chinese characters that covers every aspect of, and therefore answers all the questions one might have for, these fascinating ancient language symbols from script evolution to colour-illustrated biographies including proper Stroke sequences and from the complete Compound anatomy to the trinity of Sounds, Semantics, and Synopses. This series of books is the ultimate guide and reference for first-time learners as well as masters of the language. It is for both the teachers and self-motivated students. This is the 4th volume of the series, covering the 4th 100 most frequently used Chinese characters as presented with their full colour illustrations and arranged in columns from right to left on the front cover. For its extensive colour illustrations throughout, this book is best read with a colour screen reader.