The Chinese Commercial Code

Have you ever wondered how the Chinese used to send telegrams?

The answer is very simple - they used a numeric code known as the Chinese Commercial Code (CCC) or the Chinese Telegraphic Code. Basically, each character was assigned a four-digit number. To send a telegram all anyone had to do was to look up the code number for each character and that was transmitted. To put the message back into Chinese the recipient merely had to check what characters corresponded to the numbers.

Modern communications have little need for the codes but many countries still expect the code to be used for names in visa and immigration applications to ensure the correct identification of individuals.