As for the history of Chinese characters, according to the archaeological discoveries recorded and confirmed in the existing ancient documents, it has a history of at least four or five thousand years, and the history of the origin of Chinese characters is the beginning of ancient civilization in China, so we usually say that the Chinese nation has a civilization history of five thousand years. Archaeology and literature records show that Chinese characters originated in Yangshao culture period, and entered the stage of character accumulation around 4000 BC and 2000 BC, and a considerable writing system was formed in the early Shang Dynasty.
Simplified characters (simplified characters) and traditional characters
Chinese characters, which originated from the Han nationality of the Chinese nation, are the most widely used and circulated characters. During the evolution of Chinese characters for thousands of years, there have been many differences. After the founding of New China, in the 1950s, specialized institutions were organized to standardize the form, sound and meaning of Chinese characters, commonly known as "simplified characters" (Chinese characters before the 1950s were commonly known as "traditional characters"), and they were popularized with reference books such as Xinhua Dictionary and Modern Chinese Dictionary, and simplified characters were juxtaposed with traditional characters (variant characters). At present, simplified characters are used in Chinese mainland, while traditional characters are still used in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Chinese characters are non-pinyin characters, which are obviously different from pinyin characters in writing. Even in the neighboring countries of China, great changes have taken place. Take "Chinese characters" as an example: Simplified Chinese characters: Traditional Chinese characters: Hanyu Pinyin: hà nzi Japanese: Chinese characters () Wu language: Chinese characters (hoe zy) Korean (Korean). (Han Jia) Vietnamese: Ti? Wu Zongqu? C italics
English: Chinese characters German: chinesische Schrift Russian: китакскии French: Chinese Polish: Chiński Danish: Kinesisk Filipino: Intsik Portuguese: Chinois Greek. Italian: Karate Chinisei Indonesian: Cina Hungarian: Kinai Riosgigi Finnish: Kinalenin Maerki.
The origin of Chinese characters
From the ancient legend of Cangjie's word-making to the discovery of Oracle Bone Inscriptions 400 years ago BC/KLOC-0, scholars in China have been trying to uncover the mystery of the origin of Chinese characters. Regarding the origin of Chinese characters, there are many sayings in China ancient literature, such as "knot rope theory", "gossip theory", "picture theory" and "calligraphy contract theory". Ancient books also generally recorded the legend of Cang Xie, the historian of the Yellow Emperor who created Chinese characters. Modern scholars believe that systematic writing tools cannot be completely created by one person. If Cang Xie really exists, he should be a text organizer or publisher. The earliest scribing symbol was more than 8000 years ago. Wang, a doctoral supervisor of Zhengzhou University, made a systematic investigation and comparison of the carved symbols on pottery pieces unearthed from more than 9 archaeological and cultural sites in China, and thought that the earliest carved symbols in China appeared in Jiahu site in Wuyang, Henan Province, with a history of more than 8,000 years. Characters first matured in Shang Dynasty. Oracle Bone Inscriptions and bronze ritual vessels used in Yin Ruins are the earliest mature written materials found in China. The structural characteristics of basic characters in Shang Dynasty can be divided into four categories: based on the physical characteristics of human body and a certain part of human body; Based on labor creation and labor object; Taking the images of animals and livestock as the basis of word formation; Taking natural images as the basis of word formation.
trait
Chinese characters are one of the oldest characters in the world, and they are written symbols to record events. Formally, it has gradually changed from a figure to a square symbol composed of strokes, so Chinese characters are generally called "square characters". It has developed from hieroglyphics (ideographs) to phonetic symbols with both sound and meaning, but the overall system is still ideographs. Therefore, Chinese characters have the characteristics of integrating image, sound and meaning. This feature is unique in world writing, so it has unique charm. Chinese characters are the treasure of China's culture for thousands of years, and they are also our lifelong mentor and friend, and everyone's spiritual home. Chinese characters can often arouse our wonderful and bold associations and give people beautiful enjoyment. Wang Xizhi's Calligraphy