魔戒
(Chinese)
[Mó jiè]
There are two official ways of writing Chinese characters for Mandarin. The Republic of China (Taiwan) uses Traditional characters. The People's Republic of China (Mainland China) uses Simplified characters, in which a couple thousand of the most common characters have been simplified.
There are two official ways of writing Chinese characters for Mandarin. The Republic of China (Taiwan) uses Traditional characters. The People's Republic of China (Mainland China) uses Simplified characters, in which a couple thousand of the most common characters have been simplified.
Traditional Characters
Traditional Characters
魔戒 (Chinese [Traditional]), purchased on-line from diversityoflife, Massachusetts, on ebay in 2019 (paperback)
魔戒 (Chinese [Traditional]), purchased on-line from diversityoflife, Massachusetts, on ebay in 2019 (paperback)
Tolkien, J.R.R. 魔戒. Translated by Hsueh-Heng Chu. Vol. 1, 魔戒現身. Linking, 2001. ISBN: 957-08-2336-4
Tolkien, J.R.R. 魔戒. Translated by Hsueh-Heng Chu. Vol. 1, 魔戒現身. Linking, 2001. ISBN: 957-08-2336-4
———. 魔戒. Translated by Hsueh-Heng Chu. Vol. 2, 雙城奇謀. Linking, 2001. ISBN: 957-08-2337-2
———. 魔戒. Translated by Hsueh-Heng Chu. Vol. 2, 雙城奇謀. Linking, 2001. ISBN: 957-08-2337-2
———. 魔戒. Translated by Hsueh-Heng Chu. Vol. 3, 王者再臨. Linking, 2001. ISBN: 957-08-2338-0
———. 魔戒. Translated by Hsueh-Heng Chu. Vol. 3, 王者再臨. Linking, 2001. ISBN: 957-08-2338-0
When I purchased these on ebay they were ex-library copies so the dust jackets, which were just standard movie stills, were quite trashed with library stickers, tears, tape, and other damage. Removing the dust jackets revealed these great Alan Lee paintings on the actual covers (top), which are far superior to the movie stills.
When I purchased these on ebay they were ex-library copies so the dust jackets, which were just standard movie stills, were quite trashed with library stickers, tears, tape, and other damage. Removing the dust jackets revealed these great Alan Lee paintings on the actual covers (top), which are far superior to the movie stills.
In the Fall of 2021, I ordered a Chinese set from Multilingual Books of Seattle. They didn't have the set pictured on their website in stock so they offered to get a set for me from Amazon. The set they acquired and sent was this same Traditional Chinese set, but in new condition with the movie still dust jackets intact (bottom). The volumes without dust jackets, published in 2001, are clearly ready for sale without the dust jackets (and dust jackets are almost never, if ever, included on paperbacks). What seems to have happened is that the publisher wanted to ensure high sales by tying the books to the forthcoming movies, so dust jackets with stills from the first movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, were chosen for the dust jackets of all three volumes.
In the Fall of 2021, I ordered a Chinese set from Multilingual Books of Seattle. They didn't have the set pictured on their website in stock so they offered to get a set for me from Amazon. The set they acquired and sent was this same Traditional Chinese set, but in new condition with the movie still dust jackets intact (bottom). The volumes without dust jackets, published in 2001, are clearly ready for sale without the dust jackets (and dust jackets are almost never, if ever, included on paperbacks). What seems to have happened is that the publisher wanted to ensure high sales by tying the books to the forthcoming movies, so dust jackets with stills from the first movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, were chosen for the dust jackets of all three volumes.
Simplified Characters
Simplified Characters
魔戒 (Chinese [Simplified] A), purchased on-line from muller boyer, France on ebay in 2019 (hardback)
魔戒 (Chinese [Simplified] A), purchased on-line from muller boyer, France on ebay in 2019 (hardback)
Tolkien, J.R.R. 魔戒. Translated by Di Ding, Jinrong Yao, and Dingjiu Tang. Vol. 1, 魔戒再现. Yilin Press, 2002. ISBN: 7-80657-250-3
Tolkien, J.R.R. 魔戒. Translated by Di Ding, Jinrong Yao, and Dingjiu Tang. Vol. 1, 魔戒再现. Yilin Press, 2002. ISBN: 7-80657-250-3
———. 魔戒. Translated by Di Ding, Jinrong Yao, and Dingjiu Tang. Vol. 2, 双塔奇兵. Yilin Press, 2002. ISBN: 7-80657-266-X
———. 魔戒. Translated by Di Ding, Jinrong Yao, and Dingjiu Tang. Vol. 2, 双塔奇兵. Yilin Press, 2002. ISBN: 7-80657-266-X
———. 魔戒. Translated by Di Ding, Jinrong Yao, and Dingjiu Tang. Vol. 3, 王者无敌. Yilin Press, 2002. ISBN: 7-80657-267-8
———. 魔戒. Translated by Di Ding, Jinrong Yao, and Dingjiu Tang. Vol. 3, 王者无敌. Yilin Press, 2002. ISBN: 7-80657-267-8
魔戒 (Chinese [Simplified] B), purchased on-line from Shanghai Store US on Amazon in 2019 (paperback in box)
魔戒 (Chinese [Simplified] B), purchased on-line from Shanghai Store US on Amazon in 2019 (paperback in box)
Tolkien, J.R.R. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 1, 魔戒同盟. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2013. ISBN: 978-7-208-12165-2
Tolkien, J.R.R. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 1, 魔戒同盟. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2013. ISBN: 978-7-208-12165-2
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 2, 双塔殊途. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2013. ISBN: 978-7-208-12165-2
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 2, 双塔殊途. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2013. ISBN: 978-7-208-12165-2
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 3, 王者归来. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2013. ISBN: 978-7-208-12165-2
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 3, 王者归来. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2013. ISBN: 978-7-208-12165-2
(All three volumes share a single ISBN number. This is typical for the Shanghai People's Publishing House.)
(All three volumes share a single ISBN number. This is typical for the Shanghai People's Publishing House.)
魔 戒 (Chinese [Simplified] C), purchased on-line from Love Promotion Ltd on Amazon in 2021 (paperback in box)
魔 戒 (Chinese [Simplified] C), purchased on-line from Love Promotion Ltd on Amazon in 2021 (paperback in box)
Tolkien, J.R.R. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 1, 魔戒同盟. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2018. ISBN: 978-7-208-11303-9
Tolkien, J.R.R. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 1, 魔戒同盟. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2018. ISBN: 978-7-208-11303-9
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 2, 双塔殊途. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2018. ISBN: 978-7-208-11303-9
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 2, 双塔殊途. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2018. ISBN: 978-7-208-11303-9
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 3, 王者归来. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2018. ISBN: 978-7-208-11303-9
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 3, 王者归来. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2018. ISBN: 978-7-208-11303-9
(All three volumes share a single ISBN number. This is typical for the Shanghai People's Publishing House.)
(All three volumes share a single ISBN number. This is typical for the Shanghai People's Publishing House.)
The back covers and spines for this edition have a rather unusual integrated design. The spines alone are a piece of the usual map of Middle Earth, but just the far eastern edge, east of Barad-dûr.
The back covers and spines for this edition have a rather unusual integrated design. The spines alone are a piece of the usual map of Middle Earth, but just the far eastern edge, east of Barad-dûr.
While this may seem a bit odd, since nothing in the LOTR text occurs in this section of the map, the map on each volume's spine wraps around onto the back cover (below left). This leads to the rather interesting feature that each map is a bit farther east (or west) than its neighbor.
While this may seem a bit odd, since nothing in the LOTR text occurs in this section of the map, the map on each volume's spine wraps around onto the back cover (below left). This leads to the rather interesting feature that each map is a bit farther east (or west) than its neighbor.
If you compare the image of just the spines with the image of the backs and spines together, you'll see that the spines alone are shown in the opposite order from the image that includes the backs. That's because other editions with integrated art on the spines have the volumes in the left-to-right order of FR, TT, RK. But Chinese sets have the volumes in reverse order, so the spines are in the order of RK, TT, FR. If we look at just the back of RK and the three spines (above right), we see that much of the usual map of Middle Earth from just west of the Shire to the wastes of Rhûn is present.
If you compare the image of just the spines with the image of the backs and spines together, you'll see that the spines alone are shown in the opposite order from the image that includes the backs. That's because other editions with integrated art on the spines have the volumes in the left-to-right order of FR, TT, RK. But Chinese sets have the volumes in reverse order, so the spines are in the order of RK, TT, FR. If we look at just the back of RK and the three spines (above right), we see that much of the usual map of Middle Earth from just west of the Shire to the wastes of Rhûn is present.
This is a rather interesting design, but because the volumes are placed in the box in the order RK, TT, FR, the map on the back of RK stretches from the Shire to Barad-dûr, but the map on the back of FR stretches from just west of Weathertop to Rhûn and the Shire and Bree are off the left edge of the cover. Had the volumes been designed to be placed in the usual order of FR, TT, RK then the map on FR would have covered all the lands described in that volume and the map on RK would have focused mainly on the lands described therein. (The Shire and the Grey Havens would be missing from the RK map, but most of the action is in Gondor and Mordor.) Fortunately for the reader, each volume contains a nice set of maps following the text.
This is a rather interesting design, but because the volumes are placed in the box in the order RK, TT, FR, the map on the back of RK stretches from the Shire to Barad-dûr, but the map on the back of FR stretches from just west of Weathertop to Rhûn and the Shire and Bree are off the left edge of the cover. Had the volumes been designed to be placed in the usual order of FR, TT, RK then the map on FR would have covered all the lands described in that volume and the map on RK would have focused mainly on the lands described therein. (The Shire and the Grey Havens would be missing from the RK map, but most of the action is in Gondor and Mordor.) Fortunately for the reader, each volume contains a nice set of maps following the text.
There is one last unusual feature of this edition. Not all editions include the Appendices following the text of RK, but those that do make no visual distinction between the pages of the narrative and the pages of the Appendices. This edition, however, uses yellow paper for the Appendices in RK.
There is one last unusual feature of this edition. Not all editions include the Appendices following the text of RK, but those that do make no visual distinction between the pages of the narrative and the pages of the Appendices. This edition, however, uses yellow paper for the Appendices in RK.
Tolkien, J.R.R. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 1. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
Tolkien, J.R.R. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 1. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 2. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 2. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 3. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 3. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 4. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 4. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 5. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 5. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 6. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. 6. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. Appendix. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
———. 魔戒. Translated by Jiawan Deng, Zhongge Shi, and Yunci Du. Vol. Appendix. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16671-4
(All three volumes share a single ISBN number. This is typical for the Shanghai People's Publishing House which is the parent company to Horizon.)
(All three volumes share a single ISBN number. This is typical for the Shanghai People's Publishing House which is the parent company to Horizon.)
This is a deluxe set apparently designed for a market outside China because there is more English on the covers, title pages, and chapter headings than usual in editions designed for Chinese markets. It is specifically labelled "Deluxe Edition". There is a deluxe preservative coating over the cloth of the covers and the box that gives it a leather-like feel, there is a folded map included inside the box, there is a 4x6 reproduction of an Alan Lee painting inside each volume, there is a 4x6 photo of J.R.R. Tolkien inside the Appendix in lieu of an Alan Lee print, there are folded maps inside most of the volumes relevant to that Book, and there is a special page with a bookplate already attached (with the gates of Moria design) inside the front cover of Volume 1. This is, by far, one of the very best produced editions in my collection.
This is a deluxe set apparently designed for a market outside China because there is more English on the covers, title pages, and chapter headings than usual in editions designed for Chinese markets. It is specifically labelled "Deluxe Edition". There is a deluxe preservative coating over the cloth of the covers and the box that gives it a leather-like feel, there is a folded map included inside the box, there is a 4x6 reproduction of an Alan Lee painting inside each volume, there is a 4x6 photo of J.R.R. Tolkien inside the Appendix in lieu of an Alan Lee print, there are folded maps inside most of the volumes relevant to that Book, and there is a special page with a bookplate already attached (with the gates of Moria design) inside the front cover of Volume 1. This is, by far, one of the very best produced editions in my collection.
霍比特人 (Chinese [Simplified] [H]), purchased on-line from Amazon in 2022 (hardback)
霍比特人 (Chinese [Simplified] [H]), purchased on-line from Amazon in 2022 (hardback)
Tolkien, J.R.R. 霍比特人: 插图详注本. Translated by Gang Wu. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16437-6
Tolkien, J.R.R. 霍比特人: 插图详注本. Translated by Gang Wu. Horizon, 2020. ISBN: 978-7-208-16437-6
This is a translation the annotated edition of The Hobbit.
This is a translation the annotated edition of The Hobbit.