The origin of Chinese characters:
From the ancient legend of Cangjie’s creation of characters to the discovery of oracle bone inscriptions more than 100 years ago, Chinese scholars of all ages have been committed to uncovering the mystery of the origin of Chinese characters. Regarding the origin of Chinese characters, there are various theories in ancient Chinese literature, such as "knots", "gossips", "pictures", "scripts", etc. Ancient books also generally record the legend of the creation of characters by Cangjie, the historian of the Yellow Emperor. Modern scholars believe that a systematic writing tool cannot be completely created by one person. If Cangjie does exist, he should be the organizer or promulgator of writing.
The earliest carved symbols are more than 8,000 years ago
In recent decades, the Chinese archaeological community has released a series of unearthed materials that are earlier than the oracle bone inscriptions at the Yin Ruins in Anyang and related to the origin of Chinese characters. These materials mainly refer to the engraved or painted symbols that appeared on pottery in the late primitive society and early historical society. They also include a small amount of symbols engraved on oracle bones, jades, stone tools, etc. It can be said that they all provide new basis for explaining the origin of Chinese characters.
By systematically examining and comparing the engraved symbols on pottery shards unearthed from more than 100 sites of 19 archaeological cultures across China, Wang Yunzhi, a doctoral supervisor at Zhengzhou University, believes that China’s earliest engraved symbols Appeared at the Jiahu site in Wuyang, Henan, it has a history of more than 8,000 years.
As a professional worker, he tried to further analyze these original materials through scientific methods such as the comprehensive use of archeology, ancient writing morphology, comparative philology, technological archeology and high-tech means. After a comprehensive sorting, some clues about the occurrence and development of Chinese characters before the writing of the Shang Dynasty were revealed.
However, the situation is not that simple. In addition to the existing small materials from the Zhengzhou Shangcheng site and Xiaoshuangqiao site (more than 10 examples of early Shang Dynasty Zhu Shu and pottery inscriptions have been discovered at this site in recent years), they can be directly compared with the Yin Ruins inscriptions. Compared with the sequence, other symbols from before the Shang Dynasty are scattered and scattered, with many missing links from each other, and most of the symbols are inconsistent with the characters of the Shang Dynasty. There are also some symbols with strong regional colors and complex backgrounds.
In addition to writing on slips with brushes, the other main means of writing at that time were inscriptions on tortoise shells and animal bones, pottery, jade, and pottery casting on bronzes. The written materials of the Shang Dynasty are mainly based on the oracle bones and bronze ritual vessels used for divination in the Yin Ruins. It is the earliest mature writing discovered in China so far.
The characters of the Shang Dynasty reflected in the Yinxu period are not only reflected in the large number of characters and rich materials, but also in the way of character creation that has formed its own characteristics and rules. The structural characteristics of the basic characters of the Shang Dynasty can be divided into four categories: taking the physical characteristics of the human body and a certain part of the human body as the basis for character construction; taking the creations and objects of labor as the basis for character construction; taking the images of animals and livestock as the basis for character construction; take natural objects as the basis for character construction. From the perspective of the cultural connotation of the configuration, we can see that the objects chosen by these earlier and mature glyphs are quite close to the social life of our ancestors and have strong realistic characteristics. At the same time, the content described by these glyphs involves all aspects of human and nature, so it also has the characteristics of a wide range of sources of configuration.
Jokes with Chinese characters:
Classic jokes about the foreigner Hemingway learning and speaking Chinese
Late night snacks
At 11:30 at night, I'm online. Hemingway called me suddenly and said he wanted to treat me to a supper. He was afraid that I wouldn't go, so he drove to pick me up. Come on! No excuse! Go for it!
"Don't come to pick me up, I'll drive myself. Where to go?"
"How about the night stall?"
"Ha! You can eat at the restaurant Are you tired of it?"
"Hey, hey!"
We made an appointment to meet at the beach stall in Hong Kong. Hemingway is the representative of a large American multinational company in China, and he treats people well. I came to China to work for one year and studied Chinese with me for one year. He has a very good sense of language and has a special ability in learning languages. He has been to many countries and learned many "foreign languages". Although he is not proficient in them all, he can at least use them. He feels that Chinese is the most difficult language to learn among all the languages ??in the world. While learning Chinese, he also made many classic jokes. Although I had a lot of bumps and bumps, I learned pretty well.
We arrived almost at the same time, and I chose a food stall that was cleaner and in better condition.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the door, Hemingway shouted in a loud voice in fluent Chinese:
"Boss! Does the pee fried rice taste good?"
Scared me One jump! I stopped him in a hurry:
"What?...What do you mean?" (What? What do you mean?)
The shop owner looked at Hemingway blankly, and all the guests Everyone looked this way, and some people were saying:
"A foreigner is here to make trouble!" "Fuck him!"
Looking at everyone's puzzled eyes, Hemingway said He ran to the door in two steps, carried a big sign in, and placed it in the hall. Submission:
Pee
Fried rice
Everyone was stunned for five seconds, and then burst into laughter.
Chinese textbook
Hemingway’s self-selected textbook when he first started learning Chinese was the Chinese textbook published by the BBC Broadcasting Company. The advertisement on the title page of the book is very provocative, claiming that it is especially suitable for tourists and businessmen to learn Chinese quickly, and even those with no basic knowledge of Chinese can "speak it at a glance".
I can't find a single Chinese character in the entire book. The entire text is in English and Chinese Pinyin. It's a Chinese textbook for illiterate people. It is said that this book is specially prepared for those who give up learning Chinese characters that are as difficult as the Book of Heaven and just want to learn to speak some spoken Chinese. Because he didn’t read Chinese characters at all and just read the spelling
Hemingway proudly showed off his knowledge of Chinese as soon as he saw the translator: "You howl (good) Miss Liu, I hate singers (very happy) throw them to death" You (know you)."
Hemingway cherished the opportunity to talk to the Chinese, and jokes came out one after another. For example, he told his secretary: "My wife (suit) is in her purse." In order to negotiate an agreement, we Make an appointment to meet in my office at eight o'clock. "This morning I was worried that the road would be too busy, so I left home at seven o'clock.
"His friend returned to China, so Hemingway often said: "A good man (good man) flew away (returned). "Every time he walked to the stairs, Hemingway would bow slightly, in a typical gentlemanly manner, and muttered: "Please be careful about being naked (stairs), obscene, obscene, let's go downstairs together."
Wangwen Business
Hemingway: "You Chinese are indeed a diligent nation."
Secretary: "How can you tell?"
Hemingway: "Whenever I pass by the street in the morning, I can often see the two big words 'Early' written on the roadside signboard, reminding people passing by to go to work not to be late."
Uncontrollable
p>Hemingway participated in the "Mandarin Speech Contest". His opening remarks were as follows: "Ladies and gentlemen, I must first apologize to you. My Mandarin is not good. My relationship with your Chinese language is Just like my relationship with my wife, I love it very much, but I can't control it."
Braised Butt
When Hemingway first entered a restaurant in China, he called steamed buns "" "Newspapers," the waitress patiently explained: "There are newspapers across the street, including daily and evening newspapers."
I wanted to eat dumplings, but unfortunately the word "sedan" came out of my mouth. Listen. The service girl seemed to be in the mist.
What made the waitress particularly confused and even angry was that he actually asked for "braised butt" and claimed that this was his favorite Chinese dish. Seeing that the waitress looked unhappy or even angry, Hemingway hurriedly pointed out the menu to her. Only then did the waitress realize that he wanted to eat "braised pork ribs".
Very good and better
When Hemingway first came to China, he could only speak two Chinese words: "very good" and "better".
One day, a clerk said: "I'm going to take two weeks off."
Hemingway said: "Very good."
The servant said: "Because I My father is dead."
Hemingway said: "Better."
Not a thing
Hemingway held a staff meeting: "The Chinese call things '. Things', such as tables, chairs, televisions, etc., but living animals are not called things, such as insects, birds, beasts, humans, etc., so you and them are not things, and naturally neither am I. Stuff!"
Lunch
Once when Hemingway was invited to a banquet, the Chinese representative politely told him that a small meal was prepared for him tonight. The foreign man looked at the table full of delicacies and said in surprise. : "If this is a casual meal, it is really a 'big meal'."
I lost my appetite all night.
Chinese is so amazing
Hemingway said to the translator: "Your China is so amazing, especially in terms of writing. For example:
'The Chinese team won a big victory "The American team" means that the Chinese team won;
"The Chinese team defeated the American team" means that the Chinese team won.
In short, victory will always belong to you."
Everywhere is beautiful
Hemingway did not know that the Chinese "Where! Where!" is a self-effacing expression. Once when he attended a wedding, he politely praised the bride for being very beautiful. The groom beside him said on behalf of the bride: "Where! Where!" Unexpectedly, the foreign man was shocked! Unable to give a general compliment, Chinese people are not satisfied and need to give examples, so they use blunt Chinese words: "The hair, eyebrows, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth are all beautiful!" The result was a burst of laughter from the whole audience.
Mathematical Chinese
The Chinese name Hemingway gave himself when he came to China was Zhang. He can write the intricate "Zhang" character - and it's also in cursive script, which is really not easy for a foreigner.
Astonished, I couldn't help but ask him. He said: "It's nothing, I just wrote the number three and thirteen-quarters with one stroke."
Didn't faint!
The new meaning of the word "kiss"
Hemingway studied Chinese.
When he learned the word "kiss", Hemingway raised a question: "The meaning of the word "kiss" is 'don' and 'mouth'. How can you kiss without moving your mouth?"
Someone thought for a while and answered with a smile. : "Chinese people are relatively reserved. 'Don't speak' means 'don't have to talk'.
Do you know how to talk when you kiss?"
What is Wei
p>
Hemingway’s wife came to China and took the Chinese name Wei. One day the couple met a friend while walking and exchanged pleasantries for a while.
Friend: "What's your wife's surname?"
Hemingway: "Her surname is Wei."
Friend: "What's Wei?"
Hemingway: "Why? Why do you have the surname Wei?"
"English-Chinese Dictionary"
For a while, Hemingway held a thick "English-Chinese Dictionary" all day long and read from the dictionary. Get some Chinese words and phrases, and then learn and use them.
I met him on the boulevard of the industrial park at dusk. I went up to say hello: "Hello! Hemingway, I'm taking a walk."
He said with a smile: "Yes, I I'm wandering here."
I held back my smile and asked with interest: "Do you understand what wandering means?"
He replied seriously: "Of course I do, wandering is just here. Walking back and forth from one place to another."
Hemingway liked to introduce himself to people he met: "I am a rustic." He always made everyone laugh. Hemingway himself was surprised because he read in the dictionary that "countryman" translated into Chinese means "rustic person". He just wanted to tell the Chinese that he was a peasant, and he didn't understand why it would lead to such a comedic effect.
Hemingway's habit of copying dictionary terms made him extremely embarrassed on one occasion. I don't know which dictionary he found in the English translation of the word "nonsense", which has a double meaning, one is useless nonsense, and the other is polite meaning, so Hemingway boldly used his new term. A Chinese representative participated in the project negotiation. After the negotiation, Hemingway praised Hemingway for his high level of Chinese. Hemingway quickly imitated the modesty of the Chinese and replied: "You are so flattering. It's all nonsense, nonsense." The Chinese representative immediately had a look on his face. Walked away pale.
Zodiac
The Chinese folk zodiac signs are also a topic of great interest to Westerners. Everyone wants to find out which animal they belong to. Unfortunately, "genus" and "belonging to" Hemingway are often confused.
One day he said excitedly to the secretary girl: "You belong to pigs."
In Chinese, "female" or "male" are used to describe the gender of animals, which was very important to Hemingway. It is too difficult for him to say, because in English, male (male) or female (female) can be used to describe people or animals.
One night Hemingway was taking her dog for a walk on the street. When she saw me, she proudly introduced to me, "This is my female dog."
Hard Hat
In addition to driving a car, Hemingway also loved riding a motorcycle because it was convenient. I said there are too many cars on the road, so be careful. He answered: It doesn't matter, I will wear a condom. He originally meant "hard hat" (helmet).
Quantifiers
The quantifiers in Chinese also gave Hemingway a big headache. Once he advertised himself as a "hero" and asked him what he meant? He said: "A good-looking man means a thin, tall and good-looking man." He explained that "a good-looking man" naturally means long and straight, and "good-looking man" should of course be a good-looking man.
Another time he told me that he saw "a picture of a puppy" on the highway. I immediately corrected that it should be a puppy, but he retorted with a serious expression that it was definitely a puppy, because the puppy had been run over by the car, and the crushed puppy naturally turned into a puppy, just like Just like a piece of paper or a photo.
In addition, Hemingway plausibly defended things like "a pair of trousers" because trousers have two legs, and two legs are a pair, so it is correct.
They even argue with Chinese people everywhere, insisting that it should be "a set of butts" to be logical, which sounds very funny.
Various kinds of "juice"
Once, I tested Hemingway's idiom ability: "Wring out all the ___ juice".
The result is:
"Wring out the ink", "Wring out the milk", "Wring out the juice", "Wring out the soup".
Ha! "You really racked your brains and didn't come up with 'racking your brains.'"
Jam
Although there are so many jokes that make me laugh, watching foreigners work hard to learn Chinese The culture and language of the nation also make me happy. So I encouraged him: "Your Chinese level is improving very quickly." But he responded loudly with Chinese politeness: "Jam, jam (praise, praising)".