The History of
Chinese Character Author: Jen Feng Liu
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Table of Content
Section 1 Brief Introduction 1.1 History 1.2 Imapact
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Section 2 Ancient Characters 2.1 The Principles of formation 2.2 Evolution of Ancient Scripts
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Section 3 Modern Characters 3.1 Transformation 3.2 Evolution of Modern Scripts 3.3 Contemporary use
23 25 30
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Section 1: Brief Introduction
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“Chinese characters have been evolving for more than 4,000 years.� 1.1 History China has a long history. In observing the first ruins of civilization, we can find that the earliest trace of ancient Chinese culture appeared four thousand years ago. How did the ancient people develop their culture? How did the Chinese characters emerge and evolve throughout history? The following content is going to tell you more about this history of the Chinese character. Chinese is one of the most popular languages in the world and has more than one billion people speaking it as their first language. As a result, the Chinese character is also widely used in the Chinese speaking world.
It is hard to define the exact time when Chi-
characters in this period are Big Seal Char-
nese characters originated. The oldest and
acters (Dazhuan). In the end of The War-
more completed characters that anthropol-
ring States period, Qin states finally unified
ogist discovered are Oracle Bone Script (Jia
all the other states and built the Qin Dy-
Gu Wen). The characters were carved on
nasty. In this time, the characters were also
the tortoise shells and animal bones in the
unified, which were called Small Seal Char-
Shang Dynasty (1700-1027B.C.). Also, there
acters (Xiao Zhuan ). Clerical Script (Li-
were characters found on bronze for nobil-
shu) has been used between Qin and Hang
ities to worship the gods and their ances-
dynasty and it is regarded as the beginning
tors. These characters are called Bronze In-
of modern Chinese characters. Standard
scriptions (Jin Wen). During the following
Script (Kaishu), Running Script (Xingshu),
hundreds of years, from the Shang Dynasty
Grass Script (Caoshu), and Simplified char-
to The Warring States period (221-5B.C.).
acters (Jian Ti Zi) were developed in the fol-
Chinese characters have been developing
lowing dynasties and are still being used in
in different areas. The most common used
modern China.
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1.2 Impact Chinese characters are the oldest and only indigenous writing system in East Asia. As a result, Chinese characters became the basis of many East Asian cultures’ writing systems. Some of them are still in use in modern life, while others have declined and gradually become lost in the history. The characters that are based on Chinese characters are called the Sinitic family of scripts, which includes the following: Japanese, Korean, Yi scripts, Khitan, Jurchen, Tangut, Vietnamese Chu Nom and Nushu. Here we introduce the characters that are more commonly used nowadays:
JAPANESE In the beginning, the Japanese used Chinese characters as their writing system, but as time went by, the Chinese characters were modified into their syntax, words and grammar. As a result, three writing systems emerged serving as the new writing system in Japanese life. Kanji is mainly Chinese characters, whereas the other two systems, hiragana and katakana, are the result of simplifying certain Chinese characters. Both of the simplified systems serve as the spelling system with the characters representing only sounds. All three writing systems can be used in the same text in order to show the complete contextual meaning.
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KOREAN Korean adopted Chinese characters based on their language. Chinese characters were called hanja and have been used to represent both words and sounds. However,
neither
North
Korea or South Korea uses this writing system since they created a new alphabet - hangul.
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Section 2: Ancient Characters
2.1 The principles of formation There are six different principles of forming Chinese characters, which are known as Liu Shu: Pictographs(Xiang Xing), Ideographs(Zhi Shi), Combined Ideographs(Hui Yi), Determinative-Phonetic Characters(Xing Sheng), Transfer Characters(Zhuan Zhu), Loan Characters(Jia Jie). The main principles are Pictographs(Xiang Xing), ideographs(Zhi Zhi), Combined Ideographs(Hui Yi) and Determinative-Phonetic Characters(Xing Sheng), while the other two principles are used to compliment the main principles. More than eighty percent of Chinese characters are formed from Determinative-Phonetic Characters (Xing Sheng). The following are the introduction for each of the principles of formation.
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The concept of six princeples of formation was proposed in Liu Shu(ĺ…書) written by Xu Shen, a linguistic expert in Han dynasty.
Pictographs(Xiang Xing)
月
pictographs
oracle bone
yue standard script
Xiang Xing are known as the initial principle of formation. The words formed by Xiang Xing are mostly based on the image of the object, such as creatures, tools or natural phenomena, which are also regarded as “pictograph” characters. Furthermore, the characters under this category may also demonstrate the improvement of Chinese civilization.
Ideographs(Zhi Shi) The characters formed by the Ideographs principle are often described as “pointing to matters,” which means these characters are conveying abstract meanings by symbols. Unlike pictographs, these characters are ‘’indirect characters” with the combination of abstract ideas and pictographs. Take the Chinese character “knife” as example: 刀 (dao) is a word
formed by the pictographs principle with the image of an ancient Chinese knife. 刃 (ren), which means blade, is combined with the word
刀 and a line attached, which symbolizes the
上下 ideographs
up shang
above the line
down xia
under the line
abstract idea that appeared on the knife, which is the sharp blade that a knife has.
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Combined Ideographs(Hui Yi)
combined ideographs
亻木 休 +
=
man ren
tree mu
to rest xiu
“Hui yi” is a principle used to combine two or more words from Pictographs and Ideographs to make new words.
For example, 休 (xiu), which means taking a rest, is combined with 人(ren), which means human, and木 (mu),
which means wood. To explain the word, when a person leans on wood, he is taking a rest.
Determinative-Phonetic Characters(Xing Sheng)
木每梅
Determinative-Phonetic Characters
+
tree mu
=
every mei
plum mei
As time goes by, the words formed by the above three principles are not enough for daily use. As a result, the principle Determinative-Phonetic Characters emerged by combining Pictographs with phonetics/phonetic compounds. In this situation, the ancient Chinese authorities were able to make as many words as they wanted without limitation.
Transfer Characters(Zhuan Zhu) In Chinese characters, if there are words with similar traits, it is possible that they are interchangeable. Historians have two main theories about the Transfer Characters, which is that they come from words of the same meaning or same pronunciation. However, they are still having a huge debate about which one is the precise explanation for Transfer Characters throughout hundreds of years of research.
爸父 transfer characters
ba
words in different form but in similar meaning: father
Loan Characters(Jia Jie) The last principle, Loan Characters, is to borrow a homophonous word
and add a new meaning to it. An example for Loan Characters is 其 (qi). Originally, this word primarily had the meaning of “basket”. In ancient China, the pronunciation of “he, she, it” is also “qi,” but there wasn’t a word representing their meaning. As a result, ancient people took the word 其(qi) and now it means both “basket” and “he, she, it.”
fu
自
loan characters
zi
original: nose nowadays: me, myself
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2.2 Evolution of Ancient Scripts Oracle Bone Script (Jia Gu Wen) Oracle Bone Script, an evidence of ancient Chinese writing, is traced back to late Shang Dynasty(1250-1050B.C.). In this period, Oracle Bone Script was only used by royals. They applied the Oracle Bone Script through fortune telling via communication with royal ancestral spirits. Shang civilian are very superstitious, they make use of Oracle Bone Script as a way to communicate with royal ancestral spirits in the following aspects: royal family, military, weather forecasting and ritual ceremony, etc. The answer of fortune telling would be scripted on Oracle Bone by Oracle Bone Script. The Oracle Bone Script was discovered by a Ching Dynasty(1644-1912) linguistic expert specialtizing in Bronze Inscriptions,Wang Yi Rong. Once he was purchasing medicinal materials, in which “dragon bone” is one of the items. “Dragon bone” is actually what Chinese named “turtle shell.” He then found the script on it. Out of curious, he purchased the rest of them and thus has raised awareness of turtle shells and Oracle Bone Script to contemporary scholars.
“Oracle Bone Script is the earliest script found with mature writing system in east Asia “ However, researchers assert that there must be other scripts that emerged earlier than Oracle Bone Script since it is unlikely a complete writing system came out of nowhere.
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Oracle Bone Script
Bronze Inscriptions (Jin Wen) Bronze Inscriptions are also traced back to Shang Dynasty (1250-1050B.C.). While the words were written on Bronze, they were only used by royalty in ancient China. Bronze Inscriptions were mainly about ceremonies, wars, edict, hunting and contract, which indicated the civilization and society in Shang Dynasty. Bronze Inscriptions have been used for about 1,500 years from Shang dynasty to the The Warring States. In the beginning, few words were inscripted on the bronze, until the prosperous era, when around 500 words were written in one piece of bronze.
Bronze Inscriptions
Small Seal Characters
Small Seal Characters (Xiao Zhaun) Qin states united all the others in the end of the Warring States period. The Qin Dynasty was built afterwards under the lead of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. He announced an edict to unify the language and writing systems once he became emperor, and thus after a few modifications of the government, Small Seal Characters was used throughout the Qin dynasty. The Small Seal Characters were very different and look more like symbols rather than images. Also it is the foundation of modern characters, the following characters such as Clerkly Script, Standard Script, Running Script and Grass Script were based on the look of Small Seal Characters. Also, the Small Seal Characters are still used today in Calligraphy and other confidential use.
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Section 3: Modern Characters
3.1 Transformation The transformation from Small Seal Characters to Clerical Script is regarded as the transformation from ancient characters to modern characters. The two distinct differences are the stroke and writing style. Clerical Script has less strokes and is more angled in the corner of strokes. Since it is hard to write circular turns in bamboo and wood slips, it became much easier and faster to write on slips when Chinese adopted to Clerical Script. It is easier to use pen and calligraphy to write Clerical Script.
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Also, Clerical Script is identical to all the modern characters. It is hard to tell the six principles of formation by their appearance compared to ancient characters. In this period, Chinese characters evolved more as an symbolic of each words instead of the image/shape of the words in the past. The scripts after Clerical Script formed in a cursive way so it is easy for writing. Also, the formation of Clerical Script standardized the diversion in different areas. The standardized forms of the words are stilled used in modern characters.
3.2 Evolution of modern scripts Clerical Script (Li Shu) Li(隸), means bureaucrat in Chinese. It is
more like Small Seal Script, but by the end
said that during the Qin and Han Dynasty,
of Han dynasty, it was written differently by
the government announced and tackled too
adding a cursive end. Afterwards, the Cler-
many general affairs, and Small Seal Char-
ical Script stimulate the emerge of Standard
acters are too simple to write down all the
Script, Running Script and Grass Script.
complicated narratives, which is the reason
In Ching Dynasty, calligraphers based on
why Clerical Script was formed. During
Clerical Script and created new writing
the Qin Dynasty, the script was written
form with creativity.
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Running Script (Xing Shu) Running Script, also called Semi-cursive, appeared after the Han Dynasty. It is the handwriting format of Standard Script. Standard Script is known for being neat but it takes a lot of time to write. On the other hand, Grass Script is faster to write but the words are sometimes unreadable. As a result, Running Script is made to fix both problems. The words written in Running Script are readable and reletivly fast to write. One of the best pieces in Running Script known over the world is “Lantingji Xu,� which is written by the great calligrapher, Wang Xi Zhi. The piece is mainly about spring sightseeing with family and friends.
Standard Script (Kai Shu) Standard Script was established at the end of the Han Dynasty and it was assigned to be the official script in the Chinese writing world(Most Chinese speaking world use both Standard Script and Simplified Characters). Standard Script is very identical to Clerical Script, with the only differences being the cursive stroke and serif-like turn in the stroke. Throughout the history, there are four calligraphers famous for their Standard Script writing: Ou Yang Xun, Yan Zhen Qing, Liu Gong Quan, Zhao Meng Tiao.
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Cursive Writing (Cao Shu) It is regarded as the most cursive Chinese script throughout the history. Grass Script emerged the earliest between Clerical Script and Running Script. It is said that during the Han Dynasty, the officeholders wrote Clerical Script in a rush thus, and is considered the first emerging of Grass Script, also called Zhangcao. In this period, the words were written individually and didn’t simplify much of the original Clerical Script. After the occurrence of Standard Script, Grass Script was written based on Standard form with calligraphers often connecting the words together in one stroke. It may also be simplified for convenience. This period was called Jincao. During Tang Dynasty, Grass Script gradually became an art form, Kuagcao, functioning less for practical use but more for beautiful art .
Simplified Characters(Jian Ti Zi) Since Standard Script was announced as the official writing script, Chinese characters have maintained the same forms for hundreds of years. In 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) adopted a simplified form of the Standard Script in an attempt at raising literacy rates, which was known as Simplified Characters (Jian Ti Zi). About 2,000 simplified words were announced while the others were still the same as Standard Script since they were already simple enough (less than 12 strokes in a word). China, Singapore and Malaysia designated Simplified Characters as their official script.
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3.3 Contemporary Use Contemporary Dance Contemporary dance is now using Chinese calligraphy as an element in their dance. One of the most famous contemporary dance organizations in Taiwan, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre Foundation, launched classic dance pieces including
The
Trilogy of Xingcao. Presented separately, the three parts of the trilogy are entitled, Xingcao, Xingcao II and Kuagcao. The dancers show the spirit of each script by transforming all the strokes into dance movements. Another company, Guangdong Modern Dance Company has been on a performing tour all over the world for over 10 years, presenting “Beyond Calligraphy�. The dancers in this company are asked to experience the spirit of different Chinese characters before they start choreographing.
Calligraphy Throughout the history, both painting and calligraphy have been regarded as important art forms in China. Most of the time Chinese cared more about painting. Even though calligraphy is used for daily writing, it still lost appeal when western culture popped up. Fortunately, the awareness of contemporary and experimental calligraphy art rose in 1990’s. Chinese calligraphy could finally step out of practical use. Artists and calligraphers add variety elements into Chinese calligraphy and use calligraphy as an art form.
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宋體 Noto Serif 黑體 Noto Sans
Classic Chinese Typeface The main type font used in the Chinese design world are Song and Heiti. Song was originated from the printing skills in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). It is also called Ming since the characters were introduced in Japan and other countries during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Song font is famous for having different thicknesses between strokes. The horizontal strokes are thinner and the vertical strokes are thicker. Heiti was designed under the influence of Sans-Serif, and similarly has strokes with the same thickness. As a result, it is more simple and modern. It is widely used on portable devices for its visibility.
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Colophon
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