1/18/2015 WrittenChinese

Omniglottheonlineencyclopediaofwritingsystems&languages
WrittenChinese()
Legendarybeginnings
Cangjie(),anofficialhistorianoftheYellowEmperor,istraditionallycreditedwithinventingtheChinese
writingsysteminabout3000BC.Accordingtolegend,hehadfoureyesandfourpupils,andthatwhenhe
inventedChinesecharacters,thedemonscriedandtheskyrainedmillet.TheYellowEmperor,whoreigned
between26972597BCor26962598BCaccordingtotradition,isregardedasthefounderofChinese
civilization.

AtthetimeoftheYellowEmperor,recordswerekeptusingknotsonropes.Theemperorthoughtthissystem
wasunsatisfactoryandchargedCangjietocreateawritingsystemforChinese.Cangjiedidnotknowhowto
proceedatfirst,butwaseventuallydecidedtobasecharactersonthespecialcharacteristicsofanimals,birds
andothernaturalphonomena.Theemperorwasverypleasedwiththenewscriptandhadtextbooksproduced
andsenttothedifferentpartsofhisempiresothatCangjiecouldteachpeoplehisscript.

Protowriting?
In1999inJiahu()inHenan()provinceartifactsinscribedwithsymbolsresemblingOracleBoneScript
characterswerediscovered.TheJiahusitedatesbacktoaround6,600BC,andsomebelievethatthesymbols
areChinesecharacters,orperhapsaformofChineseprotowriting.Othersarguethatthegapbetweenthese
symbolsandtheOracleBoneScriptistoolongforthemtohaveremainedmoreorlessunchanged,sotheyare
unlikelytobeancestorsofChinesecharacters.

OracleBoneScript(jigwn)
TheoldestinscriptionsthatarerecognisedunequivocallyasChinesedatefromabout1200BCandwere
foundinAnyang,thecapitaloftheShangDynasty(16001046BC)in1895.Theyconsistofshorttexts
inscribedonoxscapulaeandturtleplastronsandareknownasoraclebones(jig),andthescriptis
knownastheOracleScript()or"shellbonescript".

SomecharactersintheOracleBoneScriptwiththeirmodernequivalents.

MoredetailsoftheOracleBoneScript

BronzeScript(jnwn)
TheBronzeScriptisthenameusedforinscriptonsonbronzeartifacts,suchasbellsandcauldrons,datingfrom
theShangandZhuDynasties.Theearlierinscriptionswerewritinginthewetclaymoldsusedtocastthe
bronzemanylaterinscriptionswereinscripedintothebronzeafteritwascast.

Thiswasnotasinglescriptbutratheranumberofdifferentscriptswhichdevelopedindifferentwaysin
differentregions,particularlyfromtheSpringandAutumnPeriod([]chnqishdi)or771to
476BC.FromthelateSpringandAutumnPeriodtoearlyWarringStatesPeriod,anumberofartisticscripts,
suchastheBirdScript(niosh)andWormScript(chngsh)emerged.

SomecharactersintheBronzeScriptwiththeirmodernequivalents.

SealScript([]zhunsh)
SealScriptisastyleofChinesecalligraphythatdevelopedduringtheZhudynasty(c.1046256BC)andthe
WarringStatePeriodoftheQinDynasty(c.481/475403BC).TheQinversionbecamethestandardformalof
theQindynasty,andcontinuedtobeusedduringtheHanDynastyfordecorativepurposesandnameseals.
Thename(zhun)means"decorativeengraving"andthisscriptisstillusedfornameseals/chops.TheQin
versionoftheSealScriptisalsoknownastheSmallSealScript(xiozhun).

SomecharactersintheSealScriptwiththeirmodernequivalents.

SampletextintheSealScript

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ClericalScript([])
TheClericalScriptorChanceryScriptisastyleofChinesecalligraphythatdevelopedduringtheQindynasty,
becamethedominantstyleduringtheHandynasty,andwasuseduntiltheJinDynasty(265420AD).Itisstill
usedforheadlines,signsandadverts.Thisscriptisthoughttohavedevelopedfromarelativelysimple"vulgar"
scriptwhichemergedduringtheWarringStatesperiodandbecamepopularwithordinarypeople,aswellas
withgovernmentscribes,duringtheQindynastyatatimewhenliteracywasspreading.

SampletextintheClericalscript

StandardScript()

SomecharactersintheStandardScript.

SampletextintheStandardScript
ThissampletextshowstheStandardScriptwithzhynfho()thephoneticalphabetusedinTaiwan
toshowthepronunciationofcharactersindictionaries,booksforchildren,textbooksforpeoplelearning
Chinese,andinsomenewspapers.

Moreinformationaboutzhuyinfuhao

Runningscript()
TheRunningScriptorSemicursiveScriptisacursivestyleofChinesecalligraphythatdevelopedfromthe
ClericalScriptfromthe1stcenturyAD.ItiseasiertoreadthatthanDraftScriptasthecharactersarenotas
abbreviated.

SomecharactersintheRunningScript.

SampletextintheRunningscript

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Draftscript()
TheDraftorCursiveScriptisastyleofChinesecalligraphythatdevelopedduringtheHanDynasty.Atfirstit
wasacursiveversionoftheClericalScriptknownas(zhngco)inChinese,andasancientcursive,draft
cursiveorclericalcursiveinEnglish.ThescriptdevelopedfurtherduringtheJinDynasty,andhasbeenused
asaformofshorthandandasacalligraphicscriptsincethen.Itisquicktowritebecausesomepartsof
charactersareomitted,somestrokesaremerged,somepartsarereplacedwithsimpleralternatives,andsome
ofthestrokesaremodified.Forthosenotfamiliarwiththisstyleofwriting,itcanbedifficulttoread.

SomecharactersintheDraftScript.

Translate

SampletextintheDraftScript

Simplifiedcharacters()
Inanefforttoincreaseliteracy,about2,000ofthecharactersusedinChinahavebeensimplified.These
simplifiedcharactersarealsousedinSingapore,butinTaiwan,HongKong,MacauandMalaysiathe
traditionalcharactersarestillused.

ThesimplifiedcharacterswereofficiallyadoptedinthePeople'sRepublicofChinain1949.

Sampletextinsimplifiedcharacters

Moreinformationaboutsimplifiedcharacters

Transliterationofsampletexts
Rnrnshngrzyu,ziznynhqunlshngylpngdng.Tmenfyulxnghlingxn,bngyngy
xongdgunxdejngshnhxingdudi.

ThistransliterationiswritteninHnypnyn(),oneofthenumerousphonetictranscriptionsystemsfor
MandarinChinese.

DetailsofphonetictranscriptionsystemsforMandarinandothervarietiesofChinese.

Translationofthesampletexts
Allhumanbeingsarebornfreeandequalindignityandrights.Theyareendowed
withreasonandconscienceandshouldacttowardsoneanotherinaspiritof
brotherhood.
(Article1oftheUniversalDeclarationofHumanRights)

Recommendedbooks
BooksaboutChinesecharactersandcalligraphy OmniglotChinese
Mandarin,Shanghainese,Hokkien,TaiwaneseandCantoneselanguagelearning learntoread,writeand
pronounceChinesecharacters
materials
Availablefor
Links Android&iPhone
InformationaboutwrittenChinese
http://www.ancientscripts.com/chinese.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_Chinese

Copyright19982015SimonAger

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