The pinyin of Chenchen is [chēnchēn]
1. Introduction to Chinese characters
Modern Chinese characters refer to the regular script form of Chinese characters after regularization, including traditional Chinese characters and simplified characters . Modern Chinese characters evolved from oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, large seal scripts (Zhou script), small seal scripts, official script, cursive script, regular script, running script, etc. Chinese characters were invented, created and improved by the ancestors of the Han nation, and are an indispensable link to maintain the various dialect areas of the Han nation.
The earliest extant Chinese characters are the oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin and Shang Dynasties around 1300 BC and the later bronze inscriptions. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, they evolved into the Zhou script, and then to the small seal script and official script of the Qin Dynasty. By the Han and Wei dynasties, official script became popular. By the end of the Han Dynasty, official script was transformed into regular script. Regular script was popular in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and was widely used.
2. The theory of the origin of Chinese characters
From the ancient legend of Cangjie’s creation of characters to the emergence of oracle bone inscriptions more than 1,000 BC, Chinese scholars of all ages have been committed to uncovering the mystery of the origin of Chinese characters. Regarding the origin of Chinese characters, various schools have always had different opinions. Among them, the more influential theories are: the knotting theory, the Bagua theory, the engraving theory, the Cangjie creation theory, the engraving theory and the picture theory.
3. Spread
After the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the enfeoffment system of "feudal relatives, with vassals and vassaling Zhou" became an important political system, and the geographical space of the Zhou people's enfeoffments was quite vast: Many bronze vessels of the early Zhou Dynasty have been unearthed from the Yan State of Liulihe in the north, to the Zeng State of Yejiashan in Suizhou in the south, and to the Qi State of Shandong in the east. Compared with the Shang Dynasty, the number and location of unearthed bronze inscriptions have greatly increased.
It is worth noting that in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, most of the bronze wares of the vassal states were the same as those of Zhou Wangji. There were no obvious differences in the shape, decoration and craftsmanship, especially in the inscriptions and calligraphy. Many of them could even be regarded as Written by one person. It can be seen that with the Great Enfeoffment, Zhou people, their institutions, and culture realized cross-regional flow, and Chinese characters spread in all directions from the Central Plains, achieving a large-scale spread across the land of China.
4. Character creation method
The character creation method of Chinese characters is a character creation method summarized by the ancients based on the structure of Chinese characters and the rules of character creation. There are six ways to create Chinese characters, also known as the "six books" - pictograms, referring to things, pictographs, meanings, borrowings and annotations. The "Six Books" first appeared in "Zhou Li", but the specific content was not stated.
Xu Shen of the Eastern Han Dynasty perfected the "Six Books" in his book "Shuowen Jiezi". Modern scholars have made many improvements on the basis of "Shuowen Jiezi", including three Shu Shuo, Four Shu Shuo, etc., but "Six Shu" is still the widely recognized method of making characters.