Briefly describe the origin and development of Chinese characters.

Archaeologists in China have published a series of unearthed materials about the origin of characters earlier than Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins. Jia Hu's woodcut has a history of about 7762 years (128) after the physical determination of carbon 14. The early Oracle Bone Inscriptions is rich in writing system, and the later one belongs to the initial mature stage. These archaeological discoveries may be important clues to the origin of Chinese characters, or they may be different origins of the development of various characters.

In the early 1980s, more complete characters were found on the pottery unearthed from the Xia cultural site in Dengfeng, Henan. This is the earliest written language with exact time confirmed by scholars in China so far.

Development:

1, Oracle Bone Inscriptions

It refers to Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins, which was carved (or written) on tortoise shells and animal bones by the royal family in the late Shang Dynasty (14 ~ 1 century) in China for divination. About 654.38+05,000 pieces of Oracle bones were found, with more than 4500 words. These Oracle Bone Inscriptions records are extremely rich in content, involving many aspects of social life in Shang Dynasty, including not only politics, military affairs, culture and social customs, but also astronomy, calendars, medicine and other science and technology.

2. Jinwen

Bronze inscriptions refer to characters cast on bronze wares of Yin and Zhou Dynasties, also known as Zhong Dingwen. Shang and Zhou Dynasties were the bronze age, with the tripod as the representative ritual vessel and the bell as the representative musical instrument. "Zhong Ding" was synonymous with bronze ware. Therefore, Zhong Dingwen or inscriptions on bronze refers to inscriptions cast or carved on bronzes.

3. Big seal script

Dazhuan originated in the late Western Zhou Dynasty and traveled in Qin during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The fonts are similar to those of Qin Zhuan, but the configurations of glyphs overlap. Representing the present Shi Guwen, it was named after a book written by Tai Shihuan of Zhou Xuanwang. On the basis of the original text, he transformed it and got his name because it was engraved on the stone drum. It is the earliest stone carving text that has been circulated so far, and it is the ancestor of stone carving.

4. Xiao zhuan

Xiao Zhuan is also called "Qin Zhuan". During the Qin Dynasty, Li Si was ordered to unify the characters, which was called Xiao Zhuan. It was in the Qin dynasty. The shape is long, even and neat, and it evolved from Da Zhuan. Official script is basically evolved from seal script, mainly changing the round strokes of seal script into square folds, which makes writing faster, and it is difficult to draw round strokes when writing with pigments on wooden slips.

5. Regular script

Regular script, also known as official script, or original script, began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Its characteristics are: square shape, straight strokes, can be used as a model, hence the name. After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the north and the south were divided, and calligraphy was also divided into two factions. The calligraphy style of the Northern School has inherited the legacy of Han Li. The brushwork is simple and rigorous, but the style is simple and rigorous, so it is called "Weibei". Southern calligraphy is more sparse and beautiful than letters. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, because of regional differences, personal habits and book styles were very different.

6, cursive script

The cursive script was formed in the Han Dynasty, and it evolved from the official script for simplicity. There are Cao Zhang, Cao Jin and Crazy Grass. Cursive script is a font produced for the convenience of writing. It began in the early Han Dynasty. At that time, it was "Cao Li", that is, scribbled official script, which gradually developed into a kind of "Cao Zhang" with artistic value. At the end of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhi changed "Cao Zhang" to "modern grass", and the character style was formed in one fell swoop. In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Xu and Huai Su developed into "weeds", with continuous strokes and changeable glyphs.

7. Running script

Calligraphy came into being in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and it is a font between regular script and cursive script, which can be said to be cursive script or cursive script. It is to make up for the shortcomings of slow writing in regular script and illegible cursive script. The brushwork is not as sloppy as cursive script, and it is not required to be as correct as regular script.

Extended data:

Characteristics of Chinese characters:

Chinese characters are one of the oldest characters in the world and have a great influence on the surrounding areas. They are letters of other characters. It is a written symbol for recording events. Formally, it has gradually changed from a figure to a square symbol composed of strokes, so Chinese characters are generally called "square characters". It has developed from hieroglyphics (ideographs) to phonetic symbols with both sound and meaning, but the overall system is still ideographs.

Therefore, Chinese characters have the characteristics of integrating image, sound and meaning. This feature is unique in world writing, so it has unique charm. Chinese characters are the treasure of China's culture for thousands of years, and they are also our lifelong mentor and friend, and everyone's spiritual home. Chinese characters can often arouse our wonderful and bold associations and give people beautiful enjoyment.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-the origin and evolution of Chinese characters