ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Two-cell Chinese Braille

Chinese Braille is a special type of writing system used in China for people who are blind. One version of Chinese Braille is called "two-cell" Chinese Braille.

When people write in two-cell Chinese Braille, they use a special machine that helps them punch bumps onto paper. Each bump represents a different character in the Chinese language. The machine has two little cells side-by-side, and each cell has six spots where bumps can be punched.

For example, if someone wanted to write the character for "dog," they would punch a bump in the top-left spot of the left cell, and then a bump in the middle spot of the right cell. That's what the character for "dog" looks like in two-cell Chinese Braille!

After someone writes out a sentence in two-cell Chinese Braille, they can read it by running their fingers over the bumps. They'll feel a pattern of bumps that represents each character in the sentence. It's just like reading regular written Chinese, but with your fingers!