前言 Preface The aim of this book is to provide an accessible introduction to the fascinating culture of Han characters. I sincerely hope that it will help all readers to become interested in the “Kingdom of Han Characters”, allow them to recognize Han characters, and so encourage Sino-foreign cultural exchange. Han characters have an ancient history and are regarded as one of the wonders of human civilization. The development of Han characters evolved from pictures through the following key stages: Jiaguwen (in******ions on animal bones or tortoise shells), Jinwen (in******ions on ancient bronze ware), Xiaozhuan (the lesser seal style Chinese characters of the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206 BC)), Lishu (the official ****** in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), and Kaishu (regular ******). Over this time, drawings evolved into strokes, pictographic characters became symbols, and complex characters changed into simple ones. Simplification has always been at the heart of the development of Han characters. This development is brought to life in this book in both words and pictures. As a kind of graphic written language, ancient Han characters have unique intrinsic graphic and pictographic elements, which are highlighted throughout this book. As you will see, modern Han characters are no longer pictographic characters, however they do still have graphic elements, and retain, to varying degrees, the forms of the ancient pictographic characters from which they originated. This book explores how dominant or recessive the pictographic element in modern Han characters are – which is of great value in the recognition and use of Han characters. Han characters can be thought of as “living fossils”. They have a square structure that contains a wealth of information that distills certain elements of Chinese history, civilization, culture and art. The book also introduces and celebrates these elements and highlights the value of Han characters as art. Han characters are an ancient form of communication that is still used by a large number of people; they are still in a process of development and renewal and are a key part of China’s past, present and future. In brief: Han characters are the written symbols of the Chinese language. They originate from drawings and have unique graphic elements. They are noteworthy and beautiful and carry a profound history with them. Like a long-running river, they have developed over time. They continue to evolve as a living and continually improving part of China’s modern culture.
精彩内容 Using Pictures to Express Ideas Drawings are a direct and convenient way to express simple ideas. Early man therefore used drawings to communicate and it was only after a long period of history had passed that drawings evolved into more abstract and symbolic characters that could be read and enunciated as speech. Rock Paintings for Recording Events Long before the invention of characters, early human societies in both the East and West recorded events using drawings that they engraved or painted on rocks. These have become known as the rock paintings. Rock paintings were the earliest method humans used to record events and those that have been preserved are the oldest paintings in existence. Rock paintings represented the greatest artistic achievements of Stone Age society. So far, rock paintings have been discovered in more than 120 countries and regions all around the world. Examples include the famous cave paintings in Altamira in Spain and in Lascaux in France. Rock paintings have also been found in many places of China. They all vividly bring to life the mysterious, primitive world of some of our earliest ancestors. Surprisingly, some rock paintings from 10,000 years ago show an extremely high level of artistry. Many of the rock paintings found in China include patterns and symbols, some of which resemble pictographic characters used in later times. Despite their artistic merit, rock paintings expressed a narrow range of meanings that had no direct relation to language and had no spoken equivalent. They were not symbols that were used to widely spread information, so they cannot be thought of in the same way as written characters. That said, rock paintings did illustrate natural things and human activities and expressed meaning visually. In other words they were used as a way of recording events. It has been confirmed that rock paintings did develop to represent ideas (e.g. people hunting animals) and that, although were not themselves characters, they did play a role in the creation of later characters, especially pictographs. Thus, we can say that Chinese rock paintings were the earliest ancestors of Han characters. Pottery Paintings for Recording Events During the Neolithic Age, the pottery of some ancient Eastern and Western civilizations was decorated with simple and unvarnished paintings. These pots were some of the earliest items created by human using natural products and are a key symbol of the Neolithic Age. The Yangshao Culture existed some 6,000 years ago. During this era, earthenware was produced in the area drained by the Yellow River. This pottery was decorated with drawings and patterns. These drawings and patterns were simple, unvarnished, vivid and interesting. Many of those that have survived show that the people who made them were skilled painters with a strong sense of design. As the drawings on this type of earthenware were colored in black, red and white, these pottery items have become known as “painted pottery”. They are the most numerous and most characteristic cultural product from the period of the Yangshao Culture. The Yangshao Culture is therefore often referred to as the “culture of painted pottery”.
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