Knowledge about Chinese characters
A history
Chinese characters in Oracle Bone Inscriptions are one of the oldest three Daimonji systems in the world. Among them, the sacred script of ancient Egypt and the cuneiform script of Sumerians in the two river basins have been lost, and only the Chinese characters of China are still in use today.
According to legend, Chinese characters originated from the creation of characters in Cangjie. Cang Xie, the historian of the Yellow Emperor, created Chinese characters according to the shapes of the sun and the moon and the footprints of birds and animals. When he created the characters, the world was shocked-"When it rains, the ghosts cry at night". From a historical point of view, it is impossible for a complicated Chinese character system to be invented by one person. It is more likely that Cang Xie has made outstanding contributions to the collection, collation and unification of Chinese characters. Therefore, it is recorded in Xunzi Jiemu that "there are many good books, but one is Cang Xie's solo biography".
Some people think that the Eight Diagrams in Zhouyi have a great influence on the formation of Chinese characters, but there are few supporters.
two primitive characters
There were obvious shortcomings in the spread and accumulation of oral knowledge before the invention of characters. Primitive humans used the methods of knotting, engraving and drawing to assist in keeping records, and later simplified and replaced pictures with characteristic graphics. When the graphic symbols are simplified to a certain extent and form a specific correspondence with the language, the original text is formed.
In 1994, a large number of pottery was unearthed from the Daxi Cultural Site in Yangjiawan, Hubei Province. Among the more than 17 symbols on it, some features were quite similar to those of Oracle Bone Inscriptions. This discovery infers the formation process of the original Chinese characters to 6 years ago. In addition, pictographic symbols on pottery unearthed in Dawenkou, Shandong Province, geometric symbols on painted pottery in Banpo, Xi 'an, etc., may all be the manifestations of different stages in the formation of the original characters (or before their formation).
However, are the Chinese characters after Shang Dynasty in the same strain as these geometric symbols? This issue is still in dispute. Many scholars have suggested that these symbols are not necessarily the precursors of Chinese characters, and they are not even absolutely certain to be written symbols.
3. From pictograph to ideograph
Mount Tai closes a mountain and engraves stones, which is said to be the book written by Li Si. From Oracle Bone Inscriptions to Xiao Zhuan, Chinese characters have experienced the development process from pictograph to ideograph, and the glyphs are gradually separated from the concrete images of things. Chinese characters in this period are called ancient Chinese characters.
Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Shang and Zhou Dynasties was a relatively complete writing system. Of the more than 4,5 Oracle Bone Inscriptions words that have been discovered, nearly 2, words can be recognized at present. At the same time as Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the words cast on bronzes were called inscriptions on bronze or Zhong Dingwen. The San Shi Pan and Mao Gong Ding in the Western Zhou Dynasty have high historical data and artistic value.
After Qin Shihuang unified China, Lisi standardized and sorted out the big seal script and the ancient Chinese prose of six countries, and formulated the small seal script as the standard writing font of the Qin Dynasty, which unified the characters of China. The seal script is rectangular, and the strokes are round and smooth.
Xiao Zhuan solved the problem that a large number of variant characters appeared between languages of different countries, and the history of "writing with the same language" began. The unification of written language has effectively promoted the spread of inter-ethnic culture, and played an important role in the recognition of the Chinese nation and the unification of China, which is rare in the history of written language in the world.
the development of Chinese characters has undergone many different changes. In the early Chinese character system, the number of words was insufficient, and a large number of things were represented by interchangeable characters, which made the text expression ambiguous. In order to improve the clarity of expression, Chinese characters have experienced a stage of gradual complexity and a large increase in the number of words. However, there are so many things that it is impossible to express them in a single Chinese character, and the excessive increase in the number of Chinese characters has caused difficulties in learning Chinese characters themselves, and Chinese has gradually evolved from single-word ideographic to word ideographic dominant.
Four Characters and Their Composition
After Qin Shihuang unified Chinese characters, the number of Chinese characters was constantly increasing, and many newly created characters kept appearing:
Emperor Wen of Sui, the Emperor of Sui Dynasty, was originally a vassal, but because the word "sui" had an unstable meaning, he removed the word "sui" and created the word "sui" as the country name.
In the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian created the word "Qi" (the same as "Zhao") as her name according to the meaning of "the sun and the moon are in the sky".
in the five dynasties, Liu Yan took the meaning of "flying dragon in the sky" and created the word "Chen" in his name.
In modern times, due to the influx of western knowledge, many words were also created. For example, with the introduction of "Beer" into China, how to express it in Chinese characters is a problem. At first, it was translated into Pijiu, but later it was inappropriate. In 191, the word "beer" was created-translated into "beer". In order to express English units, some polysyllabic words were also made, such as Li (nautical mile), Kui (gallon), Kui (kilowatt), ruler (foot) and so on. However, these polysyllabic characters were eliminated in the Notice on the Unified Use of Characters in the Names of Some Units of Measurement issued by the China Character Reform Commission and the National Bureau of Standards and Metrology on July 2, 1977, and are no longer used in mainland China, but they can still be seen in Taiwan Province and other places.
At present, due to the informationization and standardization of Chinese characters, Chinese characters are no longer arbitrarily added with new words. The only exceptions are various elements in the periodic table, such as helium, chlorine, radon, germanium, chromium and uranium. This word-making method is still in use for naming new elements. The rules of word formation of chemical elements can be found in elements.
Liushu is an analysis of the composition of Chinese characters. Liushu was mentioned in Zhou Li, but the specific content was not explained. In Shuo Wen Jie Zi, Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty elaborated in detail the rules of Chinese character construction of "Six Books": pictographic, referential, comprehending, pictophonetic, transliteration and borrowing. Among them, pictographic, pointing, knowing and pictophonetic are the principles of word-making, which is the "word-making method"; The transfer of notes and borrowing are the rules of using words, which is the "method of using words". However, it should be noted that the "six books" are the sorting and classification of Chinese characters, not the rules of word-making.
2. Little knowledge about Chinese characters
1. Chinese characters have been used for the longest time up to now, and they are the only ones that have been passed down to this day in various Daimonji systems in ancient times. Chinese characters have been the main official characters in all dynasties in China.
all countries in east Asia have created their own Chinese characters to some extent. In the non-Chinese system, the Japanese themselves simplified Chinese characters and formulated new Japanese fonts; Vietnam, Korea, Mongolia and other countries that used Chinese characters in history have now abandoned Chinese characters.
2. Description: Mr. Guo Moruo, based on the comparative study of Banpo pottery symbols and Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Shang Dynasty, thinks that the early characters can be divided into two systems: description and picture. "Description system is the evolution of tying rope and tying wood, and there are few. Judging from the description symbols found in Banpo and Jiangzhai, there are some numbers and some words. Many modern scholars believe that it has a fixed sound, form and meaning and should be the source of Chinese characters.
3. Bronze inscriptions refer to the characters carved on bronzes, also called Zhong Dingwen, which began in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. Shang and Zhou Dynasties were the era of bronzes, in which ding was the representative of the ritual vessels and bell was the representative of the musical instruments, and "Zhong Ding" was synonymous with bronzes.
So, Zhong Dingwen or inscriptions on bronze refers to inscriptions cast or engraved on bronze wares. 4. Chinese characters are a combination of "shape, sound and meaning", and most Chinese characters are composed of shape and sound.
Six characters are the basic principle of Chinese character formation. Six books are mentioned in the Book of Rites, but the specific contents are not explained.
in the eastern Han dynasty, Xu Shen elaborated the structural principles of "six books" in Shuo Wen Jie Zi: pictographic, indicative, knowing, pictophonetic, transliteration and borrowing. 5. Chinese characters are written Chinese characters, and each character represents a syllable.
Putonghua is used as the standard pronunciation in Chinese mainland. The syllables of Putonghua are determined by a initials, a finals and tones, and more than 1,3 syllables are actually used. Because of the huge number of Chinese characters, there are obvious homophones; At the same time, there are cases where the same word has multiple tones, which are called polyphonic words.
This situation is common in various dialects of Chinese. Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia-Chinese Character Baidu Encyclopedia- (Chinese Character).
3. About the history and evolution of Chinese characters in China.
The physical evolution of Chinese characters has a history of more than 3, years from the systematic Chinese characters. This evolution can be roughly divided into seven stages. (1) Oracle Bone Inscriptions. The earliest systematic Chinese character material we can see today is Oracle Bone Inscriptions. The so-called "Oracle Bone Inscriptions", It is the words carved on tortoise shells and animal bones in the Shang Dynasty. In 1899 (the 25th year of Qing Guangxu), Oracle Bone Inscriptions was discovered in Xiaotun Village, Wuli Road, northwest of Anyang County, Henan Province. According to archaeological evidence, Xiaotun Village is the capital of the Yin Dynasty. After 8 years of continuous excavation, about 167, pieces of Oracle bones with words were obtained. In the long-term research of archaeologists, many research results have been accumulated. According to incomplete statistics, About 2, of the more than 3,5 inscriptions on Oracle bones have been tested and released. Most of the unknown words are names of people, places and families. The Yin Dynasty in the slave age worshipped God very much, and always asked about divination. For example, it was necessary to ask divination about hunting, offering sacrifices to pray for the year, conquering Cao Ge, stormy weather, etc. From the discovered Oracle Bone Inscriptions, it can be seen that Oracle Bone Inscriptions is mainly the record of tortoise shells and animal bones carved by the royal family of Yin Dynasty. Therefore, people usually call it "Oracle Inscriptions". Comrade Guo Moruo's "Yin Qi Cui Bian" and "A Complete Compilation of Oracle Inscriptions" are monographs on Oracle Inscriptions. The words used in Oracle Inscriptions are very limited, and some words can be said to have existed in Oracle Bone Inscriptions period. However, because they were not used in Oracle Inscriptions, they have not come out so far. For example, the word "min" was used in Zhou Dynasty. They all mean to blind one eye with an awl, so "min" represents the word "min" on ancient slave bronzes: ■ (Yu Ding) ■ (Ke Ding) ■ (Qin Gonggui). But the word "min" has not been found in Oracle Bone Inscriptions so far. There are three main characteristics of Oracle Bone Inscriptions. There are opposites in writing. "Stop": ■, ■, ■ (which is the pictogram of feet) "Prison": ■, ■ (which is the place where cattle and sheep are enclosed) "Car": ■, ■, ■ (which is the pictogram of chariots) (2) The writing program is not uniform. From left to right, from right to left, it is also readable. According to archaeological analysis, in the Shang Dynasty, besides Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there must have been bamboo and silk books. Because there was already the word "Book" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, it was very similar to the bamboo slips compiled by Wei, Oracle Bone Inscriptions ■ (Book), and there was also the word "Canon", which was very similar to the appearance of holding "Book" in both hands, so later generations called important works as "classics" Oracle Bone Inscriptions ■ (Book). This is because bamboo and wood have been buried underground for more than 3, years, which probably decayed long ago. (2) Bronze inscriptions refer to words carved on bronzes. The ancients called copper "auspicious gold", so the words on bronzes were called "bronze inscriptions". Among bronzes, Zhong He Ding is famous, so the bronze inscriptions are also called "Zhong Dingwen". Ancient books and cultural relics are extremely rich. Zhou people didn't believe in ghosts and gods like Yin people, so Oracle bone inscriptions gave way to inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells. There were inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells at the end of Yin dynasty, but after all, they were few, so inscriptions on bronze mainly refer to the inscriptions on bronze in Zhou dynasty. There were not only many inscriptions on Zhou dynasty, but also many words on them. For example, Ling Yi, which was recited by the second emperor of Western Zhou dynasty, had 187 words. There are 291 words in Da Yu Ding written by Kang Wangzhao, the third emperor of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The 12th emperor of the Western Zhou Dynasty declared Wang Jingshi's "Mao Gong Ding" had 499 words. There was no such magnificence in the Yin Dynasty now. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, bronzes were mainly royal vessels, but for this kind of vessels, governors and ministers were not allowed to have the right to cast. But in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, governors dominated politics and bronzes could be cast at will, while the royal vessels were almost extinct. From the point of view of the shape of words, there were also many. Many decorative elements similar to birds and insects have been added to the characters of southern countries such as Wu, Yue and Chu, which are called "bird and insect book" and "Miao Zhuan". For example, the word "Chu" and "Wang" are Miao Zhuan ■ (Chu) and ■ (Wang). From the content, the words on the bronze ware mainly record who owns this object, and some record the meritorious military service, sacrifice and acceptance. There are three main characteristics: (1) There are many curved pens, the lines are thick and natural, and the glyphs tend to be neat. (2) Generally, inscriptions on bronze inscriptions are carved on a mold first, but they can be modified if they are not well carved, so the glyphs appear rich and simple, but they tend to be fluent and elegant at the end of the Zhou Dynasty. (3) The fonts are not fixed, and there are often many ways to write a word. For example, the word "She" is like a bow and arrow. There are various ways of writing "shooting" with one hand behind the third way of writing: the word "bug" is curved like a bug, and there are various ways of writing "bug" with two eyes above the third way of writing: ■■■■. In addition, silk books were unearthed in Changsha before liberation, which is a tomb of Chu. It is irritating that this national treasure was sold to Americans by scum of the Chinese nation in 1946, and later. As for bamboo slips, seals, Wen Tao, currency scripts, and weapon engravings, they have been found many times in Changsha, Xinyang and other places after liberation, but most of them belong to hasty and hasty scripts, which are far less neat than those in Zhong Dingwen. (3) Seal script. There has always been a debate about the name of "seal script". Comrade Guo Moruo said: "The seal character is also awkward; An official is also an official. "That is to say, the so-called" seal script "is actually a" rafter ",that is, an official book. In the Qin Shihuang era, there were many official affairs and numerous official books. In Historical Records of Qin Shihuang, It can be seen that Qin Shihuang personally had to look over 12 Jin of official documents written in bamboo slips a day. These official documents were called official scripts. But there was no such name at that time. It was not until the appearance of official scripts in the Han Dynasty that the official documents were called official scripts. Therefore, official scripts are for official scripts. Official scripts can be divided into
4. Information about the history of Chinese characters
Chinese characters have a historical process of development and evolution for thousands of years, which is roughly as follows: before Shang Dynasty, it was the history of origin, and Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Dynasty was the mature period.
Since then, there have been a series of evolutions, especially in the Han Dynasty, when official script replaced Xiao Zhuan as the main font, and the development history of China characters broke away from the ancient script stage and entered the official script stage. From the regular script to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was basically shaped, and it was artistically turned into a "Song typeface" in the books engraved in the Song Dynasty. Later, it was imitated by Song typeface, which is roughly the font we use today.
There are many languages and characters of ethnic minorities, with different types of development. In the long years, people of all ethnic groups have created the outstanding written culture of the motherland.
Extended information: Characters used in history: 1. Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the earliest and relatively complete character among the ancient characters discovered in China. Oracle Bone Inscriptions mainly refers to Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins, also known as "Yin Ruins Characters" and "Yin Qi", which were written on tortoise shell and beast bones in the Shang Dynasty.
At the end of 19th century, the ruins of the capital city of Yin Dynasty were buried in Anyang, Henan Province.