Due to its complex writing system, Chinese is one of the most difficult languages in the world. Full literacy of Chinese requires a working knowledge of three to four thousand Chinese characters and breaking into reading Chinese literature is a daunting task.

Capturing Chinese: Lu Xun's The Real Story of Ah Q presents one of the best works of modern Chinese literature as a comprehensive tool to help students of Chinese read Chinese literature in its original form. Footnotes highlight the more difficult vocabulary and pinyin is provided for the entire text. There is no need to constantly consult a dictionary or to look up difficult characters by radical. Historical events, people, and places are explained throughout and illustrations recreate the scenes.

The text used in this book is in simplified characters.

Free audio files of Lu Xun's The Real Story of Ah Q are also included with the purchase of this book and are available for download from the publisher's website. The audio files include both a woman and male speaker.