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In 1972, Richard Sears, a young American from the state of Tennessee, began learning Chinese because of his interest in traditional Chinese culture. Drawn to the ancient language, he went to China to study Chinese in the 1990s.
In 1994, Richard Sears decided to put the ancient Chinese Characters online. Then in 2002, he did it. That is the beginning of Chinese Etymology (汉字字源) website. "My website did not get much attention for the next few years. Until one day in 2011, it suddenly got a lot of attention. I got a few thousand e-mails, and a few million visitors and people started calling me 'Uncle Hanzi', "Sears said with a smile. Hanzi means Chinese characters. He has put more than 96, 000ancient Chinese characters into the website. "When I study each character, I wonder what the ancient Chinese thought," said Sears.
After visiting many Chinese cities, Sears learned more about China and ancient Chinese culture. He said when he came to China in the last century, few Chinese could speak good English." However, you can hear English in many places in China now. Chinese language and culture were mysterious and not known by people in most countries then, but now, more and more people in the world are learning Chinese, even Chinese history, traditional Chinese medicine and so on," Sears added.
Now, the 70-year-old American has made his home in China. "When I die, l hope my website will live on, and I am planning to write a book about my research. This will be my gift to China," he said.