FROM ORACLE BONES TO COMPUTERS: THE EMERGENCE OF WRITING TECHNOLOGIES IN CHINA is the first book to provide a systematic historical, rhetorical, as well as critical account of the development of major writing technologies in China, spanning a history of over five thousand years. Baotong Gu covers the development of a wide array of major writing technologies, most of which were native Chinese inventions, including oracle inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, brush pens, ink, early forms of paper, the modern form of paper, block printing, movable type, the Chinese typewriter, the computer, and the Internet. FROM ORACLE BONES TO COMPUTERS distinguishes itself from other historical studies because it examines these technologies from a rhetorical perspective to explore how the cultural context, especially the role of language and communication, helps construct and shape the meanings of Chinese writing technologies. An innovative feature of this book is its development of a six-element,...