The History of Chinese Characters
The history of Chinese characters is long - standing and well - established. It is the crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese nation and an important carrier for the inheritance of Chinese culture. Having evolved over thousands of years, it has witnessed the vicissitudes of the land of China.
Around more than three thousand years ago in the Shang Dynasty, oracle bone inscriptions emerged on the historical stage as the earliest known mature Chinese characters. Named for being engraved on tortoise shells and animal bones, they were mainly used for divination and record - keeping. Oracle bone inscriptions mainly consist of straight - line strokes, with simple and highly pictographic glyphs. From these inscriptions, we can catch a glimpse of the ancients' observations and records of nature and life. For example, the character "日 (rì)" is like a circle with a dot in the middle, symbolizing the sun; the character "月 (yuè)" is like a curved crescent moon.
As time passed, in the Zhou Dynasty, bronze inscriptions gradually became popular. Bronze inscriptions were cast and engraved on bronze ware, also known as zhongdingwen. Compared with oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions have thicker and more rounded strokes, and their structures tend to be more neat and symmetrical. This reflects the progress of casting techniques and the development of social culture at that time, with a more solemn and elegant font style.
After the Qin Dynasty unified the six states, it implemented the policy of "unifying the writing system throughout the country", and small seal script became the national standard font. Small seal script standardized and simplified Chinese characters. The lines are more concise and smooth, with consistent stroke thickness and regular and symmetrical structures, possessing extremely high artistic beauty. Its unified use promoted cultural exchanges and national unity.
In the Han Dynasty, official script emerged. It simplified the strokes of small seal script, changing round - turns into square - folds, greatly increasing the writing speed and being more practical. It also laid the foundation for the emergence of regular script. Regular script matured in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Its glyphs are square and the strokes are regular, and it has been used ever since, becoming the standard font for daily writing and printing. At the same time, cursive script and running script also gradually developed during this period. Cursive script has continuous and unrestrained strokes, demonstrating artistic individuality; running script lies between regular script and cursive script, combining practicality and fluency.
From oracle bone inscriptions to modern Chinese characters, the evolution of Chinese characters has never stopped. Each transformation has conformed to the needs of the times, carried profound cultural connotations, and continuously written the glorious chapter of the Chinese nation.