ANY foreigner who has studied Chinese is aware that to learn Chinese well, they must first grasp Pinyin (a phonetic system). Then they will be able to have a good command of Chinese pronunciation, and better equipped to obtain a basic knowledge of Chinese culture. However, the written form of Chinese, just like ancient Hebrew, is hieroglyphic, and there is no indication of the pronunciation in the written form. So what is the origin of the Pinyin used by Chinese people and the international community?