compiled by li xiaoxiang illustrated by fu chunjiang ... · the charactershou looks like a man’s...
TRANSCRIPT
Compiled by Li XiaoxiangIllustrated by Fu Chunjiang
Translated by Y N Han
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The Chinese Language
Chapter 1 Chinese Characters 3
Chapter 2 Character Riddles 15
Four Treasures of the Study
Chapter 3 Brush 23
Chapter 4 Ink 34
Chapter 5 Paper 41
Chapter 6 Inkstone 51
Chapter 7 Seal and Other Stationery Items 63
Calligraphy, Painting, Music and Chess
Chapter 8 Calligraphy 73
Chapter 9 Painting 90
Chapter 10 Chinese New Year Picture 107
Chapter 11 Music 119
Chapter 12 Weiqi 130
Chapter 13 Xiangqi 141
Contents
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THE CHINESE LANGUAGE
• Chinese Characters • Character Riddles
Chinese characters are one of the most ancient forms of writing wherebythe form, pronunciation and meaning are all expressed. There areapproximately 60,000 Chinese characters in all but only about 3,000 arecommonly used.
Section 1
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CHAPTER 1
CHINESE
CHARACTERS
Before writing was invented, the Chinese usedknotted ropes and inscriptions on wood as memoryaids.
Chinese characters originated from drawings. Theearliest Chinese writing was the shell-and-bone styleduring the Shang Dynasty. Shell-and-bone is a type ofpictography. As there was no paper during that time,inscriptions were made on tortoise shells and animalbones, hence the term shell-and-bone style.
The Chinese Language
Shell-and-bone style
Knotted ropes andinscriptions on wood
Animalshells and
bones haveother uses
too.
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Self-explanatory charactersPunctuation marks are used to convey the meaning ofa character.
Example: A dot is added to the character dao (knife)to form ren (edge of a knife), highlighting thesharpest point of the knife.
Associative compoundsThese are formed from two or more elements. Thenew character conveys a new meaning.
Example: Xiu (rest) is formed from ren (man)and mu (wood), where the two characters combineto form a new character. It depicts a man leaningagainst a tree.
How Chinese Characters Were FormedThe first Chinese characters were modelled after the shape of objects.
(sun) (moon) (mountain) (water)
As the number of words representedby drawing is limited, other methods
of forming words were created.
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The shape-and-sound-basedHere, a radical that represents the meaning and anotherthat represents the sound of the character arecombined. Ninety percent of Chinese charactersbelong to this category.
Example: During the ancient times, there was a musicalinstrument called yu that was made of zhu (bamboo). Hence, zhu is used as a radical while thesound element is represented by the element yu .Hence the character yu is formed.
The shell-and-bone style of Chinese writing goes a long way back. Over time,the strokes evolved from drawings to writing, from pictographs to symbols andfrom complicated to simple. Following the shell-and-bone style, writings inscribedon bronzeware were also practised during the Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties.
When Emperor Qin unified China, he also had writing styles unified in the formof xiaozhuan (small-seal style). Later, the emperor further simplifiedxiaozhuan to form lishu (official style). This style broke new ground asit broke away from pictographs. Towards the end of the Han Dynasty, kaishu
(regular style) was developed with lishu as its foundation. The advent ofkaishu structured Chinese writing and gave it the firm and solid structure thatwe see today.
Shell-and-bonestyle
Bronzeinscriptions
Small-seal style Official style Regular style
The Evolution of Chinese Characters
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Some Interesting Chinese Characters
Ren (man)The character ren looks like a man turning to his left. His head and body areslightly bent forward while his hands are outstretched. He looks like he is busywith something. Initially, his head and his limbs were drawn in detail. Later, hislimbs were simplified and so was his head. Next, his neck and limbs were joinedby two falling strokes to form the character ren as we know it today.
One person following another = cong (follow)
Two persons leaning against each other = bei (back)
Two persons fighting each other = dou (fight)
Two persons standing in line = bi (compare)
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Using the hand to support someone = fu (support)
The hand clawing downwards to grab something = zhua (grab)
The hand picking something = cai (pick)
Two hands fighting for the same thing = zheng (fight)
Shou (hand)The character shou looks like a man’s palm. There are fivefingers in all, with the middle one being the longest. To makewriting easier, the fingers were drawn as lines. Finally, when itevolved into one stroke and two horizontal lines, we could seethe fingers no more.
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Kou (mouth)The character kou is like an open mouth. In the beginning, it was semi-circularin shape. It later became a square.
Four teeth inside a mouth = chi (teeth)
Tongue sticking out of a mouth = she (tongue)
Delicious food inside a mouth = gan (sweet)
Many mouths transmit wisdom over generations = gu (ancient)
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Mu (tree)The character mu is similar to a tree, which has its branches at the top, its trunkin the middle and its roots at the bottom. The tree trunk is represented by avertical line, the tree branches by a horizontal line and its roots, two fallingstrokes.
A tree bearing fruit = guo (fruit)
Three trees together mean more trees = sen (forest)
Two trees together symbolise many trees = lin (woods)
The roots of a tree are at the bottom = ben (origin)
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The Chinese People’s Attitude Towards ChineseCharacters
Reverence for writingThe ancient people held Chinese writings in reverence.They believed that Chinese writings were a holycreation of the saints and must not be treated in aslipshod manner. In various parts of China, one willfind special urns built to burn pieces of paper withwritings on them, reflecting the ancient people’s deepreverence for writing.
TalismanThey also believed that the writings could protect andbless them. Thus, the talisman, a piece of paper withwriting on it, was created. It was believed to possessmysterious spiritual power and could protect one fromevil forces.
Auspicious writingToday, Chinese like to put up words like fu (happiness), chun (spring) and man (fullness) toembellish pictures and sculptures or to be pasted onbuildings, ornaments and even clothing. It expressesthe people’s wish for a happy and prosperous life.
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Cangjie InventsChinese Characters
Legend has it that the YellowEmperor’s official recorderCangjie is the man behind thefirst Chinese characters.Cangjie was in charge oflivestock and rations.
The livestockand rations keep
increasing. Keepingtrack of them
is tough.
I must think of away to help mekeep track of
them.
By using ropes ofdifferent colours, I’ll beable to distinguish thedifferent types oflivestock and rations.
The number ofknots on the
ropes willindicate the
quantity.
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This is not good. Ifthe quantitydecreases and thereis no way I can undothe knots, then…
Got it! I’ll useshells instead.When the quantityrises, I’ll addmore shells; whenit drops, I’llremove someshells. That’ssimple andconvenient!
Seeing how capable Cangjiewas, the Yellow Emperorentrusted him with moreresponsibilities.
You shall also keep arecord of the number oftimes we pray to the gods,the allocation ofhunters andthe populationcensus.
Just using moreropes and moreshells won’t beenough now…
Cangjie happened to beon a hunting trip one day.
Head east andwe’ll find
antelopes.
No, if we headnorth, we’ll find
deer.No! Two tigers havejust gone westward.
It’ll be a pity if wegive them a miss.
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Elders, how didyou know where
the differentcreatures can
be found?
Do you see thedifferent animal
footprints onthe ground?
Oh… A differentfootprint represents a
particular creature. Whycan’t I use different
symbols to representthe different things I
have to oversee?
What symbol shall Iuse for the cattle? Ithas to be somethingeasy to remember.
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Right, I’ll usethis symbol!
Next will be thebirds, the goats,the fishes…
By using diffferent symbols,Cangjie’s work was mademuch easier.
Cangjie, thesymbols you dreware very useful.
Teach them tothe others.
Yes.
The usage of these symbols became commonover time. People began to use these symbols asa tool of communication. They paved the way forthe formation of Chinese characters.
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