Introduction

This chapter serves as an introduction to the background of our edited volume, elucidates the rationales that underpin our approaches to teaching Chinese characters, outlines the organisational structure of the book and underscores its contributions to scholarship. Conceived during the unprecedented global shift to emergency remote teaching precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2023, this book seeks to showcase innovative research and teaching methods that emerged as coping mechanisms or pedagogical adaptations to the digital teaching and learning landscape. The chapter concludes by presenting forthcoming trends in Chinese character instruction within the digital era.