Tom Mullaney Sorry, this tour is sold out
The MingKwai (“bright and clear”) Chinese typewriter, invented by famed writer and linguist Lin Yutang in the 1940s, was a singular breakthrough. Not only was it the first Chinese typewriter with a true keyboard—it was a rethinking of writing technology itself. Its 72-key layout did not inscribe characters directly, but guided the user through a multi-step process of visual selection via Lin’s “Magic Eye,” allowing retrieval of any of up to 90,000 Chinese characters.
An incredible writing invention once thought lost, now recovered and available to view only during this special event. Open to a limited number of registered ATypI Stanford conference attendees!
Long assumed lost to history, the only known prototype of the MingKwai was recently discovered in a New York basement and acquired by Stanford University Libraries. Thanks to the generosity of the Bin Lin and Daisy Liu Family Foundation, it now resides at the Stanford East Asia Library, soon accessible to scholars and the public.