The history of Chinese characters

Knot(before

3000 BC)

The painted characters 1 (before 2500 BC)

The painted characters 2

• 2500BC

The vater of chinese culture: Huang-Di 黃帝 (around 2500 BC)

The historian Chan-Jie 倉頡

door

sun

cow

big

moon

fish

water person

separate

Oracle bone inscription: The Beauty of Early Chinese Writing and Pictures (I), 1300 BC

Chinese writing originated with pictures, as plainly seen on oracle bones and shells. This bone is engraved with a rare pictograph character of a bird, describing features from its head down to the tail.

Oracle bone inscription: The Beauty of Early Chinese Writing and Pictures (II)

• This turtle plastron is engraved with images of a monkey, a horse above fire, a tiger, and what is perhaps a pheasant. Though a practice piece, it demonstrates the relation between Chinese writing and pictorial art.

Oracle bone inscription: Relationships with Other States

• The relation between Shang rulers and neighboring states was often complex. Whether good or bad, it often included tribute, negotiations, or even war. The long inscription of 62 characters on this piece records that King Hsin will go on a punitive expedition with his nobles against the state of Yu and records his prayers for victory.

Oracle bone inscription: Weather

• Many oracle bone inscriptions deal with the weather, which is intimately related to agriculture, royal inspection tours, and hunting conditions. The inscriptions on this plastron inquire as to whether it will rain on that or the following day, but no reasons are given.

Oracle bone inscription:Hunting Expeditions 1

• Inscription had recorded an event in the Shang dynastic (1600-1066 BC), the king had the record of a hunt inscribed on the skull of a deer.

Oracle bone inscription: Hunting Expeditions 2

• The Shang kings often made royal tours and hunting trips. These were events of political and military importance as well as leisure. This piece prays for good luck on the dates and at the places for hunting.

Oracle bone inscription: divination

• A Turtle plastron showing drelled chisel and burn pits to create cracks for divinations

The different writing style in Chinese kingdoms(800 BC)

Kingdoms in China were: (for example the word horse)Qi Chu Yan Han Zhao Wei Qin

(ma ˇ)= horse

The „first emperor Qin“ (Qin-Shi-Huang 秦始皇 221-206 BC)

• He accepted the idea of his chancellor Li, Shi ( 李斯 ) to reunite the chinese character with force.

• Many books were burned, scholars were buried.

• Enormous influence on chinese culture. (for example the Great Wall, the Terra-cotta Army)

• New age of chinese characters

Terra-cotta army: the grave of Qin-Shi-Huang

Xu, Shen 許 慎 (58-147 AD)Hang Dynasty

„Six Books“ (121 AD)

The six books: the principle of chinese characters

• Methods to create a new word:– Pictograph 象形文字 : the form is like a picture. – Simple ideograph 指事 : is based on Pictograph,

shows the abstract ideas.– compound ideographs 會意 : combined with two or

more Pictographs or simple iedographs.– determinative phonetices 形聲 : combined with the

sound and the symbol.

• Methods of application to a word:– abstract extended meanings 轉注 : associative

transformation. One word is extend to a related concept.

– loan characters 假借 : borrowing. It gives an unrelated meaning to a character which some words only have sound but no symbol.

The pictograph 1 象形文字

bamboo

cloud fruit

water

riˋ

muˋ

muˋ

shan

maˇ

dao

yu′

men ′

Sun

eye

tree

mountain

horse

knife

fish

door

What does it means?

dog

fish

bird

deer

elephant

dragon

Ideograph 指事

Danger

(xiong)above, on

(shangˋ)

Center (zhong)

下 (xia ˋ)

down

Compound ideograph 會意

Tomorrow (ming ′ )

明

Prisoner (qiu ′)

Immortal (xian )

Rest (xiu)

determinative phonetices 形聲

+ =

• 河 (he ′) River

• 睡 (shui ˋ) sleep

water can

eye hang down

+ =垂 睡

abstract extended meanings 轉注

=

=

=

(laoˇ) = old

Same radical „ 耂“

(Kaoˇ) = old (means father and dies at an old age. It is used often on gravestone.)

自 (zi ˋ)

loan characters 1 假借

• Orginal meaning is nose• Loan character is self

new word for nose 鼻 鼻 (bi ′) = = 自 自 + + 畀畀 new meaning „self“ 自自 (zi ˋ)

loan characters 2 假借

• Orginal meaning is back• Loan character is ‘north ‘

New word for „back“ 背 背 (bei ˋ) = 北 北 + 月月 new meaning „north“ 北北 (bei ˇ)

== 北北

This character means „meat“

How many chinese character are there?

• Pictographs 4%• Simple ideograph 1%• compound ideographs 13%• determinative phonetices 82%

• About 50,000 characters• 4,000 characters to read newspaper• 6,000 characters by an educated person

The olympic symbol: the way people think ?

• Athen 2004The End! Thanks for your listening.