Yesterday, in a residential area on Shuangxing Avenue in Bishan County, Cai Dinglun quickly reported the number of strokes for each Chinese character on a piece of paper. Photos by reporter Zhang Luqiao. Friends marveled at Cai Dinglun's ability to count strokes. In 7.4 seconds, Cai Dinglun accurately reported the stroke counts for 11 characters.
Regardless of whether he recognized the text or not, as long as he took a quick glance, he could immediately report the number of strokes, with almost 100% accuracy. Because of this "special ability," Cai Dinglun, a 30-year-old security guard from Bishan County, was called "Stroke Brother" by his friends. Yesterday, Cai Dinglun said that his biggest wish now is to apply for the Guinness World Records.
He can report the number of strokes for one character in 0.67 seconds. In a residential area on Shuangxing Avenue in Bishan County, many residents know that there is a "miraculous" security guard named Cai Dinglun in the neighborhood. The reason Cai Dinglun is called "miraculous" is because he can report the number of strokes for each Chinese character within just a few short seconds, and almost without error.
Is it real skill or pretense? Is it a "special ability" or the result of training?
Yesterday, the reporter met Cai Dinglun, who finds joy in word games. He demonstrated his skill in front of the reporter. The reporter took out a newspaper and asked Cai Dinglun to say the number of strokes for each character in the news article. He responded fluently. "18, 24, 33, 9..." In just 7.4 seconds, he accurately reported the stroke counts for 11 characters. The reporter calculated that on average, every 0.67 seconds, Cai Dinglun could "see through" how many strokes were in a character.
Speaking of his "special ability," the 30-year-old Cai Dinglun was somewhat proud: "No matter how complex the structure of the Chinese character is, and no matter if I recognize it or not, as long as I 'glance' at it, I can know how many strokes are in the character." Cai Dinglun told the reporter that although he only has a junior high school education and was consistently ranked last in his class during school, when it comes to "seeing words," his eyesight is very good.
"These many years, I have only made a mistake on one character. At the time, a friend asked me to continuously count 52 unfamiliar traditional characters, and I accidentally made a mistake." Cai Dinglun laughed and said that for his "special ability," many good friends were very curious. In addition to someone finding various obscure characters to test him, there was even a colleague surnamed Deng who created an original "Chinese character" to test his "power."
"19!" Although this "character" did not exist, Cai Dinglun still did not disappoint everyone. After just a second or two, Cai Dinglun stated the correct answer, surprising his colleagues.
"Actually, some characters I don't need to see. As long as I know how it's written, I can say how many strokes it has just by hearing it." After saying this, Cai Dinglun voluntarily requested the reporter to give him a test.
"What's your surname?"
"Yang." As soon as the reporter answered, Cai Dinglun blurted out: "8 strokes!"
A "Special Ability" first appeared after a car accident
Cai Dinglun told the reporter that his sensitivity to Chinese character strokes was not something he was born with, "Discovering I had a 'special ability' actually started with a car accident in 2005."
Cai Dinglun said that in 2005, he was involved in a serious car accident. During treatment, he didn't close his eyes for a whole week, "and my eyes basically didn't blink at all. My family thought I was going to become a vegetable." But fortunately, after treatment, Cai Dinglun, who suffered brain nerve injuries, gradually regained consciousness and was discharged from the hospital after a year of treatment.
"But for more than two years after being discharged, I was in a state of unclear consciousness." Cai Dinglun said that when he was first discharged, he was rated as having a second-level disability and only recognized his son. "I was always dazed, not knowing where my home was, and neighbors said I had a problem with my brain and was foolish." Cai Dinglun recalled that during that time, he suddenly became fond of "looking at words."
However, what Cai Dinglun referred to as "looking at words" was not the usual reading of text but rather staring at the structure of Chinese characters. "At that time, I was looking around everywhere for words all day, MTV lyrics, news on newspapers, advertisements on the streets, and even product introductions on food bags... wherever there were words, I liked to stare at them, regardless of whether I knew the words or not." Cai Dinglun believed that it might be exactly these two years of "confusion" that made him become "Stroke Brother."
"In recent years, I've 'measured' tens of thousands of characters, and the slowest speed was three seconds, which was for a character with 64 strokes." Cai Dinglun stated that being able to see the number of strokes in a Chinese character at a glance actually wasn't due to any "special ability" but based on his understanding and familiarity with the structure, radicals, and the number of strokes in each part of Chinese characters. "Of course, at the beginning, it was just a feeling. When a Chinese character appeared in front of me, I felt like I could 'see through' it and sense its number of strokes."
"Ordinary people see Chinese characters, and their brains only reflect the shape, but in my mind, they automatically convert into a number, and I can't explain why." Cai Dinglun told the reporter that he never deliberately memorized the stroke count of any Chinese character, and this special skill was indeed somewhat "miraculous."
"One day in 2009, while chatting with a group of friends, I accidentally discovered that I could accurately state the stroke count of everyone's name." Cai Dinglun said that soon, news of his "special ability" spread throughout the local area.
"Stroke Brother" wants to apply for Guinness World Records
In recent years, there have been constant people testing Cai Dinglun face-to-face on how many strokes this character or that character has. And he has never disappointed anyone, leaving others marveling in wonder... Consequently, he has also become a minor celebrity locally, known as "Stroke Brother" by colleagues and friends.
But this fame hasn't brought much "benefit" to Cai Dinglun; he still works as a security guard in a residential complex, earning over a thousand yuan a month, and supports his family with this job. "For me, counting the strokes of Chinese characters is just a hobby." Cai Dinglun told the reporter that based on his familiarity with Chinese radicals and components, apart from being able to see how many strokes a character has at a glance, he is also an expert at guessing riddles. "Normal riddles can't stump me. Once I've guessed most of the popular riddles available on the market, I started making up some myself for others to guess."
Cai Dinglun said that recently, he had the idea to apply for the Guinness World Records, "but I heard that applying for the Guinness World Records requires paying several thousand yuan for application and certification fees. As a security guard earning 1440 yuan a month, it's barely enough to support my family of four, so where would I find such extra money?" Cai Dinglun said that his current biggest wish is to apply for the Guinness World Records. To save up for the registration fee, he plans to quit smoking and save money, "saving a hundred yuan a month, someday I'll have enough!"
"Stroke Brother" invites you to come to Bishan for a challenge
"I've invited my friends, my friends' friends, and even my friends' friends' friends, but no one has come to compete with me in counting the strokes of Chinese characters." Yesterday, "Stroke Brother" Cai Dinglun entrusted the reporter to extend an invitation to the citizens: if you are particularly sensitive to the structure of words and can also quickly and accurately state the number of strokes in Chinese characters, then why not come to Bishan and challenge him?
Expert Analysis
Possibly related to post-injury consciousness reconstruction
Yesterday, regarding the situation of "Stroke Brother" Cai Dinglun, the reporter interviewed Professor Liu Shiying from the Neurosurgery Department of Xinqiao Hospital.
"Cai Dinglun's sensitivity to the strokes of Chinese characters may be closely related to the severe car accident he experienced." Professor Liu analyzed that there might be two reasons for Cai Dinglun's "special ability": one is that after being hit, Cai Dinglun's brain nerves or certain areas of his brain were stimulated, causing some latent potential to be developed; the other is that after Cai Dinglun was discharged from the hospital after being injured, he went through a process of re-recognizing things like a newborn baby, and during this process, he paid particular attention to Chinese characters, "this may also be one of the reasons why Cai Dinglun is very sensitive to strokes."
Professor Liu said that in clinical medicine, he had also encountered phenomena similar to Cai Dinglun's, "but such cases are relatively rare, possibly appearing once among hundreds or thousands of patients."
Person Profile
Name: Cai Dinglun
Age: 30
Education: Junior High School
Hobbies: Counting strokes, guessing riddles, singing, telling jokes
Reporters Yang Xi, Xu Xiaoqi (intern), Sun Peiyao (intern)