Discovering Stories in Chinese Signs with Dr. Zheng-sheng Zhang

On September 3, 2025, Duke Kunshan University (DKU) Library and DKU Language and Culture Center (LCC) co-hosted a Library Intercultural Series event titled “Perusing the Chinese Linguistic Landscape.” The event was made possible through the efforts of Dr. Andrew Lee, Research and Instruction Librarian at DKU Library. It featured Dr. Zheng-sheng Zhang from San Diego State University, who presented his newly published book, Chinese Signs: An Introduction to China’s Linguistic Landscape. The event was moderated by Dr. Xin Zhang, Assistant Professor of Chinese Language and Intercultural Communication from the LCC. 

Dr. Zheng-sheng Zhang’s presentation offered a fascinating exploration of Chinese public writing, uncovering layers of meaning, style, and rhetorical patterns that reflect language use, identity, and culture in society. Taking vivid pictorial examples from everyday signs, banners and advertisements, Dr. Zhang guided the audience through “real-world” Chinese, not only in terms of its linguistic and stylistic characteristics, but also its broader social and cultural context.

Following the presentation, Dr. Xin Zhang, as moderator, led an insightful dialogue with Dr. Zheng-sheng Zhang, highlighting key issues such as how transliteration and free translation reflect different language attitudes, and how the nuances of homophones can be understood from the pedagogical and learning perspectives.

This Library Intercultural Series event was very well received, with 38 participants showing great interest and curiosity in the subject. It concluded with an active Q&A session, where participants further explored  multiple dimensions of  China’s linguistic landscape. Students also expressed curiosity about contemporary language phenomena on social media, including playful forms such as “nang yan wen” (馕言文). 

Dr. Zhang also donated a signed copy of his book Chinese Signs: An Introduction to China’s Linguistic Landscape to the DKU Library. This richly illustrated volume, featuring over 500 examples of Chinese public writing, is now available in the library collection. We warmly encourage our community to borrow it and discover the many layers of China’s linguistic landscape for themselves.

The Library looks forward to continuing the Intercultural Series with more events that foster dialogue and broaden perspectives across languages and cultures.

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Content: Andrew Lee, Cai Yan

Photo: Xue Qiu, Cai Yan