A brief introduction of Chinese characters Chinese characters are the worlds oldest form of written language, it’s also the worlds most widely used language today in terms of user number. The earliest confirmed evidence of Chinese characters discovered is that of the inscriptions carved on oracle bones from the Shang dynasty. Chinese characters are a logogram, that means each character can have a meaning tied to a word or even a phrase. A single character can have a big meaning.
If we are to believe the legends, then Chinese characters were first invented by a bureaucrat who worked for the deity the Yellow Emperor. He was so enamored with his studies of the world and its beings that he created the first characters to describe them. You can see how Chinese characters have evolved by looking at their change through the centuries but even now some still look like the thing they are describing. There are many helpful books that introduce the history and the meaning behind the characters, helping second language users to remember them more easily. Are there any Chinese characters whose meaning you would like to know? What about a word in your language that you think has a nice meaning.
Although prized calligraphy written by masters can break the bank, it’s not something that’s just reserved for the rich. Walking past a square in China you can often find the elderly generation using a large mop like brush and water to practice on the pavement. For those that practice this art form seriously there are 5 different ‘scripts’ that can be mastered, they are known as ‘seal’, ‘official’, ‘cursive’, ‘running’ and ‘regular’. To encourage this art form, many schools will offer calligraphy courses and students may take it as an extra curricular activity. Do you find calligraphy interesting? What about in your own country is there a similar artistic writing style?