Chinese writing is considered one of the most ancient in the world. Scientists who carried out excavations in different regions of China came across prototypes of hieroglyphs, which are several thousand years old. Over the centuries, written signs have undergone significant changes, but in essence they have remained the same hieroglyphs.
Instructions
Step 1
At the beginning of this century, Chinese archaeologists, while exploring the eastern regions of their country, discovered a number of unique objects that shed light on the history of the origin of the written language of the ancient eastern peoples. On the bones of animals and fragments of stone products, scientists have found images of signs that vaguely resemble modern Chinese characters. These fragments are of considerable age - they are about 4500 years old.
Step 2
Until recently, it was generally accepted that the first examples of Chinese characters date back to a later time. Earlier finds of turtle shells with written signs engraved on them date back to about the second millennium BC. Special analysis has shown that the earliest hieroglyphic shells date back to around 1600 BC. The inscriptions on the shells were apparently of a ritual nature.
Step 3
The first information about the most ancient hieroglyphs was made by amateur archaeologists. Fragments of bones were at first accidentally discovered during the development of new agricultural land. It took several months to preliminary study the written signs and estimate their age. It took even more time to identify the inscriptions and decipher them.
Step 4
The first Chinese characters found by scientists were drawn in several rows and arranged in accordance with a specific theme. Scientists have identified only a few categories of signs so far: celestial bodies, food, wildlife, various geometric shapes. Some characters are repeated many times. More than a hundred animal bones, on which hieroglyphs were skillfully carved, belong to the same era.
Step 5
Until recently, Chinese linguists tended to consider ancient hieroglyphs not as written signs, but as part of the pictorial culture of their ancestors. Perhaps it was at first. But upon closer examination, it turned out that the symbols on the bones carry a pronounced semantic load, that is, they have all the characteristic features of a real letter. Interestingly, the elements of some signs bear a certain resemblance to modern Chinese characters.
Step 6
Not all "proto-hieroglyphs" have been deciphered by now. The meaning of some symbols eludes analysis and can be interpreted in different ways. And yet, the ancient Chinese writing allows us to draw a number of important conclusions about the peculiarities of the culture and history of this people, which are several millennia behind the present time. It is possible that new discoveries await researchers ahead of them, which can push back the time boundaries that delineate the history of the emergence of Chinese writing.
