Oracle Bone Inscriptions was written or carved on tortoise shells and animal bones in ancient times. At present, the earliest discovered Oracle Bone Inscriptions is Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Pan Geng period of Shang Dynasty, and most of its contents are "Oracle Bone Inscriptions" and a few are "notes".
Oracle bone inscriptions are mostly pictographs or knowing characters, and pictographs only account for about 20%. Oracle Bone Inscriptions is very pictographic, with many characters and uncertain strokes. This shows that China's writing was not unified in the Yin and Shang Dynasties.
The appearance of official script is an important milestone in the development history of Chinese characters. Before the official script, Chinese characters were written with lines, but after the official script, Chinese characters were composed of left and right strokes. After the appearance of Lishu, the structure of Chinese characters was basically fixed, and there was basically no big change until the founding of New China.
With the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, Xiao Zhuan quickly withdrew from the historical stage, and Lishu became the primary writing method and calligraphy model in society. Shortly thereafter, a more standardized regular script font appeared. After the Han Dynasty, regular script occupied an orthodox position.
The origin of Chinese characters
One of the Chinese characters is an abstract square symbol, represented by the carved symbols on painted pottery at Dadiwan site in Gansu Province. The other is the hieroglyphic symbol of the zodiac represented by Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the site of Jiahu, Henan. The former evolved into a series of carved symbols on Jiangzhai Village in Lintong, Xi 'an Banpo. The latter developed into images on Dawenkou pottery.
By the end of Longshan culture, the patriarchal society was basically established, and groups of inscriptions appeared on jade articles of Liangzhu culture during this period. Some of these inscriptions are the same as or similar to Dawenkou pottery images, and some are similar to those in Xi 'an and other places. These inscriptions may be one of the most basic pre-Chinese character systems at that time.
It is worth noting that Liangzhu culture is on the eve of the birth of China's centralized slave country, and the Xia Dynasty should be the most critical period for the formation of the formal Chinese character system, which greatly promoted the development of Chinese characters. Chinese characters may also be made in Cang Xie. It may have been adapted by Cang Xie according to the footprints of birds, animals and insects. But this is just a legend. The details need scientific verification.