Origin of Chinese Characters
2 min readChinese characters have played a significant role in the development of the outstanding culture of the Chinese people.Chinese characters are one kind of the most ancient characters.Inthe world，there were originally ancient Sumerian and ancient Egyptian letters.2 However，the two disappeared successively and only Chinese characters remain extant.
According to legend，Chinese characters were invented by the historian Cang Jie under China’s founder，Yellow Emperor，more than 4，500 years ago.
Most linguists believe that writing was invented in China during the latter half of the 2nd millennium BC and that there is no evidence to suggest the transmission of writing from elsewhere.The earliest recognizable examples of written Chinese date from the 14th to 1lth centuries BC and were inscribed on ox scapulae and turtle shells“oracle bones.”
Based on pictographs，Chinese characters combine shapes with sounds and connotations to form unique，block-shaped characters that carry meaning.Archaeological researchersdiscovered many such signs carved on earthenware excavated from Banpo Village in Xi’an City and Jiangzhai Village in Lintong.The etchings were carved during the Yangshao Culture Period some 6，000 years ago.More than 4，000 years ago，people living in the Tai’an area of Shandong Province also carved signs on earthenware.The character（dan in pinyin，meaning dawn），for instance:the sun rises upwards，crossing the mountains and passing through cloud layers to tell people a new day has begun.It is safe to say that the earthenware signs are the first Chinese characters，which originated from drawings.
The most sophisticated and earliest Chinese characters are the inscriptions on turtle shells and animal bones called Jiagu Wen of the Shang Dynasty that resemble drawings.To date，China has unearthed 150，000 pieces of animal bones and turtle shells，including more than 4，600 Oracle bone Script distinctive Chinese characters，among which more than 1，700 have been identified.The inscriptions on bones and shells consist of phrases and simple sentences，providing much insight into the Shang Dynasty.Chinese characters top 85，000，among which about 3，000 are commonly used.
