Cang Xie tried to tie a knot on the rope all day and all night. He used ropes of different colors to represent different animals and foods, and knots tied with ropes represented each number. But over time, it won't work. It is easy to tie a knot on the rope for this increased number, but it is troublesome to untie a knot on the rope when reducing the number. Cang Xie thought of winding the rope and hanging all kinds of shells in the circle, instead of what he was in charge of. If it increases, a shell is added; if it decreases, a shell is removed. This method works well and has been used for many years.
Seeing that Cang Xie was so capable, the Yellow Emperor asked him to manage more and more things. The annual number of sacrifices, the distribution of hunting and the increase or decrease of tribal population are all called the management of Cang Xie. Cang Xie began to worry again. It's no use hanging shells with ropes. How can I not make mistakes?
On this day, he took part in collective hunting and came to a fork in the road. Several old people argued about which way to go. An old man insisted on going east, saying there were antelopes; An old man wants to go north, saying that he can catch up with the deer not far ahead; An old man insisted on going west, saying that there were two tigers, and if they were not killed in time, they would miss the opportunity. Cang Xie, it turns out that they are all looking at the footprints of underground beasts. Cang Xie suddenly felt happy: Since a footprint represents a wild animal, why can't I use a symbol to represent what I am responsible for? He ran home happily and began to create various symbols to represent things. Sure enough, keep things in order.
When the Yellow Emperor knew it, he praised it and ordered Cang Xie to teach this method to all tribes. Gradually, the usage of these symbols was popularized and gradually formed into words.
Cang Xie made a word, and the Yellow Emperor attached great importance to him. Everyone praised him, and his reputation is growing. Cang Xie's mind was a little hot, and his eyes slowly moved up above his head. No one looks down on him, his handwriting is very scrawled.
This word reached the ears of the Yellow Emperor, who was very angry. Courtiers have no room for deterioration in his eyes. How did Cang Xie realize his mistake? The Yellow Emperor called the oldest old man around him to discuss. The old man has tied more than 120 knots on his long beard, which shows that he is over 120 years old. The old man hesitated and went to Cang Xie alone.
Cang Xie is teaching people from all tribes to read. The old man sits quietly at the end and listens as carefully as everyone else. When Cang Xie finished speaking, everyone else dispersed, but the old man didn't leave and still sat in his old place. Cang Xie was a little curious and asked him why he didn't go.
The old man said, "Cang Xie, your words have become a household name, but I am old and dizzy, and a few words are still unclear. Will you teach me again? "
Cang Xie looked at such a tall old man and respected him very much. He is very happy, urge him to speak quickly.
The old man said, "Are there four legs in the words horse, donkey and mule?" ? Cows also have four legs. Why didn't you invent the word' cow' with four legs and only one tail? "
Cang Xie a listen to, the in the mind a little panic. It turns out that when he created the word "fish", he wrote "cow"; When the word "cow" was created, it was written as "fish".
The old man went on to say, "The word' heavy' you made means that you have to pronounce the word' out' from a long distance away, but you taught people to pronounce the word' heavy' as weight. On the other hand, the word "out" when two mountains are combined should be the word "heavy" for weight, but you have taught it to be the word "out" when going out. These words really puzzle me, so I have to ask you. "
At this time, Cang Xie was ashamed and knew that he had made a big mistake because of his pride. These words have been taught by all tribes and spread all over the world and cannot be changed. He quickly knelt down and expressed his regret with tears.
The old man took Cang Xie's hand and said sincerely, "Cang Xie, you have created words, so that the experience of our older generation can be recorded and passed on. You have done a great thing, and people will remember you from generation to generation. You can't be arrogant! "
Since then, every time Cang Xie coined a word, he always scrutinized the meaning of the word repeatedly, so as to solicit people's opinions. He is not careless at all. Everyone agreed, then decided, and then gradually spread to every tribe.
Of course, the above story is just a legend. However, it vividly reflects the process of our ancestors creating Chinese characters. In fact, the invention of writing can not be attributed to one person, it is the embodiment of the collective wisdom of our ancestors.
According to the study of characters, people find that in the case of extremely low productivity, people have to unite and use primitive and crude production tools to fight against nature for the sake of survival. In the struggle, language was born in order to exchange ideas and transmit information. But language is fleeting, and it can neither be preserved nor spread to distant places, and some information that needs to be preserved and spread to distant places can not be preserved only by the memory of the human brain. As a result, the most primitive methods of writing notes-"structured notes" and "engraved notes" came into being.
Before writing appeared, people used various methods to remember things, among which knotting and lettering were the most commonly used. In China's ancient books, there are many records about tying ropes. The Book of Changes and Biography of Knoting Ropes in the Warring States Period BC said: "There was a rule of knotting rope in ancient times, and later saints used books easily." Zheng Xuan, a native of the Han Dynasty, also said in the Book of Changes: "The ancients had no words, and tying a rope was a promise, a big event, and a big knot; Things are small, sum up the rope. " The left Book of Changes quoted from Jiu Jia Yi also said: "The ancients had no words, but vows, big events, big ropes, small things, small ropes and knots. It is enough to treat each other. " This is about making promises, which is quite clear and specific.
The main purpose of lettering is to record numbers. Liu Xi of the Han Dynasty said in "Notes on the Deeds of the Famous Book": "When deeds are engraved, their numbers are also engraved." It is clearly stated that the deed is lettering, and the purpose of lettering is to help mark. Because when people conclude a contractual relationship, quantity is the most important and the most likely factor to cause disputes. Therefore, people use lettering to mark numbers with certain lines and engrave them on bamboo or wood chips as a "contract" between the two parties. This is the ancient "deed" Later, people separated the deed from the middle and divided it into two halves, each holding half, based on the coincidence of the two. Numbers are engraved on the ancient deeds, which are mainly used as proof of debt.
Different nationalities around the world have similar notes such as knotting notes and lettering notes. China until after the Song Dynasty, there were knots in the south. Peru in South America is especially famous. Some ethnic groups can write down something more accurately by using the color and knot of the rope.
As an original method of taking notes, knotting notes, whether tied with a rope or crossed with multiple ropes, is only a simple concept in the final analysis, which is used to express and record numbers or directions and is an ideographic form. It can be regarded as a brewing stage before the appearance of words, but it can't evolve into words, let alone the appearance of words. Because it can only help people remember something, but it can't exchange ideas, and it doesn't have the attributes of language exchange and recording. So it is impossible for knotted notes to develop into words.
Due to the shortage of knotting notes and lettering notes, people have to adopt some other methods, such as pictures to help them remember and express their thoughts, which leads to the emergence of words. Mr. Tang Lan said in China Philology: "It's natural for words to come into being. Tens of thousands of years ago, Paleolithic people had good paintings. Most of these paintings are animals and portraits, which are the predecessors of characters. " However, only after "a more universal and extensive language" can pictures play the role of words and be transformed into words. For example, if someone draws a tiger, everyone will call it "tiger" when they see it; Draw an elephant and everyone will call it "elephant" when they see it. Over time, pictures like "tiger" and "elephant" mentioned above are between pictures and words, which has become a routine. The writing invented by Cang Xie is also this kind of pictorial writing.
As time goes on, there are more and more such pictures, and the paintings are not so realistic. Such a picture gradually shifts to the direction of words, which eventually leads to the separation of words and pictures. In this way, the picture is divided into the original realistic picture and the picture text that has become a text symbol. The hieroglyphics further developed into hieroglyphics. As "China Philology" said: "Words are based on pictures, and the original words are pictures that can be read, but not all pictures can be read. Later, the difference between words and pictures gradually became obvious. Words are no longer pictures, but words. Writing skills don't need realistic descriptions. As long as the characteristics are written, they are generally good and can be understood by people. " This is the original text.
Learning point
cuneiform characters
Cuneiform, derived from Latin, is a compound word composed of cuneus and forma. Cuneiform characters are also called "nails" or "arrows". The characters used in ancient West Asia were mostly carved on stones and clay tablets (clay bricks). The strokes are wedge-shaped like nails or arrows. Around 500 BC, this kind of writing became a common commercial communication medium in most parts of West Asia. Archaeologists have discovered a large number of cuneiform tablets or inscriptions, which have been translated since the19th century, thus forming a new discipline to study ancient history-Assyrian studies.