The formation and development of characters

Through a brief discussion on the origin and formation of Chinese characters, we understand the main features of Chinese characters and the evolution process of these features in different periods of Chinese characters. So that we can have a deeper and more systematic understanding of Chinese characters, correctly grasp the development direction of Chinese characters, and thus better inherit and develop our national characters.

Key words: Origin of characters: Oracle Bone Inscriptions bronze inscriptions on small seal script and regular script.

China has a long history of culture and is the only country with cultural heritage among the four ancient civilizations. As an important carrier of China culture, the formation and development of Chinese characters determine the formation and development of China culture in a certain sense.

I. Composition of Chinese Characters

1. The origin of Chinese characters

There are many ancient legends about the origin of Chinese characters, just like the origin of China civilization. Like what? Tie a knot? 、? Gossip? 、? Pictures? 、? Deed? Wait, the most famous is the legend of Cang Xie, a historian of the Yellow Emperor who created characters. However, it is impossible for a systematic text to be completely created by one person. Cang Xie is just a text organizer or editor. Words are produced in labor. At first, they were only descriptive symbols to convey simple information. These symbols were carved or painted on pottery in the late primitive society, and a few were carved on Oracle Bone Inscriptions, jade and stone tools. These symbols are much earlier than Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins, which can be said to be the source of Chinese characters.

2. The formation of writing system

Characters first matured in Shang Dynasty. At present, the written materials of Shang Dynasty are mainly Oracle inscriptions on Yin Ruins in Anyang, Henan Province and the words used for divination on bronze ritual vessels. Oracle Bone Inscriptions? , which is the earliest mature writing found in China so far, best represents the writing characteristics of Shang Dynasty. The characters of Shang Dynasty reflected in Yin Ruins have formed their own characteristics and laws in word formation. The structural characteristics of Chinese characters can be divided into four categories: based on the physical characteristics of the human body and a certain part of the human body; Based on labor creation and labor object; Taking the images of animals and livestock as the basis of word formation; Taking natural images as the basis of word formation. Judging from the configuration of characters, the objects selected by these early mature hieroglyphs are quite close to the original social life of our ancestors, with strong pictographic characteristics and easy to understand.

Second, the development of writing.

When a mature writing system is formed, it will inevitably change and develop if it wants to continue. As the only ancient Chinese character in the world, the development of Chinese characters: Oracle Bone Inscriptions? Jin Wen? Xiao zhuan? Official script? Regular script? These processes of running scripts.

Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Jin Wen.

The Yin and Zhou Dynasties, about 3400 to 2700 years ago, can be called Jia and Jin Dynasties. Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Jinwen are the oldest known Chinese character systems, with the number of words reaching 4,000-5,000, which is enough to meet the needs of the recording language. They carved Oracle Bone Inscriptions on the plane of tortoise shells and animal bones, and painted it red for good luck and black for danger. These words are all carved with a knife. The big characters are about an inch square, and the small characters are like grains, either complicated or simple, which is very delicate. So it's called Oracle Bone Inscriptions.

Ancient philologists have studied more than ten thousand characters of 10, and found that the structure of Oracle Bone Inscriptions has changed from single to combined, and with pictophonetic characters, it is quite mature. Among more than 4,600 Oracle inscriptions, 1700 has been recognized.

It was Jin Wen, also known as Zhong Dingwen, who appeared later than Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Shang and Zhou Dynasties were the era of bronzes. The ritual vessels of bronzes are represented by Ding, and the musical instruments are represented by bells. Zhong Ding is synonymous with bronze ware. Therefore, Zhong Dingwen or inscriptions on bronze refers to inscriptions cast or carved on bronzes. The content of inscriptions on bronze is a record of activities or events such as offering sacrifices, giving orders, imperial edicts, campaigns, hunting and covenants. All these reflect the social life at that time.

2. Warring States Characters-Biography

After Qin Shihuang unified the world, he implemented a series of reforms. Among them, unifying Chinese characters is a very important policy. The whole work was presided over by Prime Minister Li Si, and it was divided into two steps: first, all kinds of forms different from the six countries' Qin scripts were abolished, and Qin scripts were used as the basis of standardization; The second is to simplify and delete the official script of Qin, that is, the form of big seal script, and at the same time absorb some simple and vulgar characters in folk fonts to standardize it. The unified character is called Xiao Zhuan, which is different from the original Da Zhuan. Xiao Zhuan in Qin Dynasty was mainly preserved by the stone set by Qin Shihuang: Langxietai, Taishan original stone and rubbings, all of which were good manifestations of Xiao Zhuan.

3. Official script

There is also a legend about the appearance of official script. According to legend, there was a disciple named Cheng Miao in Qin Dynasty who was imprisoned for offending Qin Shihuang. Cheng Miao saw that it was very troublesome for prison officials to write Yao cards with seal script at that time, so he carried out reforms, simplified the complex, rounded the square and created new fonts. Qin Shihuang saw it and appreciated it. Not only did he absolve himself of his sins, but he also made him an empire and used this font in official prisons. Because Cheng Miao is a slave, it was originally designed for the application of slave clothes, so it is called official script. Whether this legend is true or not, we know that Lishu originated in the Qin Dynasty, but flourished in the Han Dynasty.

The appearance of official script is a great change in the history of calligraphy and even writing. Since then, calligraphy has bid farewell to ancient Chinese characters that lasted for more than 3,000 years and opened modern Chinese characters. The structure of characters no longer has the pictographic meaning of ancient Chinese characters, but is completely symbolic. It is a qualitative change and transition for official script to inherit seal script and open regular script. As a kind of calligraphy art, it has broken the limitation of single pen in the original seal script and has undergone very rich changes. The official script of the Han Dynasty contains great momentum and is full of heroic beauty of strength.

4. Regular script

Regular script was formed in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and gradually matured in Wei and Jin Dynasties. It's a slightly modified official script font. Because it can be used as a French model for learning Chinese characters, it is called regular script, also called? Real books? 、? Real books? . During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhong Wei You and Wang Jin Xi Zhi further standardized the style of regular script, making regular script a completely independent style. Compared with official script, regular script has straighter lines and more square shapes. Specifically, Han Li's strokes are mostly rectangular, diverging outward, while regular script strokes are mostly rectangular and concentrated inward. Most of Han Li's pens have twists and turns, and the thickness changes greatly. However, regular script pens are relatively stable and hard to bend at the turning point, and the thickness changes relatively little. Regular script is characterized by regular writing, rigorous structure and stable center of gravity. It is the preferred font for many people to learn books through the ages.

5. Running script

Running script originated in Han dynasty, and official script still occupies the main position. Therefore, the running script at this time is a simple and popular official script. Running script at the end of Han Dynasty is the font of official script, which has official meaning. After the Jin dynasty, the running script was a regular script, and the regular script method was used. Therefore, the running script can be divided into the late Han Dynasty and the late Jin Dynasty. Liu Desheng of the Eastern Han Dynasty was good at this kind of calligraphy, which was easy to write. Graceful? At that time, it was unique. In fact, Liu Desheng's running script, just like Li Si's seal script and Qin Miao's official script, was just arranged, reformed and perfected on the basis of popular folk characters at that time. Running script is perfected by Wang Xizhi's innovation and regular script writing. Wang Xizhi's Preface to Lanting is called the best running script in the world by later generations, and its calligraphy art is amazing.

As one of the oldest characters in the world, Chinese characters have experienced thousands of years of evolution. These changes are for the convenience of people, and they are a process from complexity to simplification. However, is the development direction of Chinese characters simple simplification? The answer is obviously no, apart from the function of writing and communication, the biggest difference between our Chinese characters and other characters is its aesthetic function and its own cultural connotation. Excessive simplification will inevitably make these unique contents missing, which is an abandonment of traditional culture. Therefore, only by correctly grasping the development law of Chinese characters can we better protect, inherit and develop this precious cultural property of our Chinese nation.

References:

[1] Eastern Han Dynasty. Xu Shen: Shuowen Jiezi, Kyushu Publishing House, first edition in March, 2006.

[2], editor-in-chief, Gong et al: An Introduction to China and calligraphy theory, Capital University Press, published in 2003.

[3] Wang Zhenyuan: History of China and calligraphy theory, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, May 2009, first edition.

Did you get a look at him? An academic paper on the development of writing? People still see:

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