Chinese writing
Evolution of Chinese writing
Breaking down Chinese writing.
Chinese writing was made for the same purpose as the ancient writing of the Egyptians and Sumerians. The writings have been used to tell us about the rich history. Some characters stand for complete words others stand for parts of words. Modern Chinese writing has over 50,000 characters. However, in ancient China there were 3,000.
Is it art class or writing? How does one's Chinese differ from another?
Both! The art of Chinese writing is a very old and traditional art. As you may know the most common language in China is Chinese, but there are many different dialects and versions of the popular language. These dialects and versions are so different from each other that they are just like separate languages. The strange thing is for example if a newspaper were to be printed in Beijing, people throughout China would be able to read it. However, if a resident were to be reading it aloud to the same people due to the difference in the versions the people wouldn't be able to understand. I think that's interesting that that's how the dialects differ from each other in such a way.
Breaking down the different types of characters
Pictograph
Pictograph are thought to be the oldest characters. During the past 5,000 years or so they have been simplified and stylised.
Ideographs
Ideographs are graphical representation of abstract thoughts.
Compound pictographs/ ideographs
Compound pictographs/ideographs combine one or more to form new characters. Each component contributes to the compound character.
Fun fact about Chinese and Japanese history
Did you know that the Japanese adopted Chinese writing after it was first brought to Japan through seals, letters, swords, mirrors and, other decorative items. This use of the Chinese writing system in Japan is called kanji. Although many people think Mandarin (traditional Chinese writing) is the exact same thing as kanji that is incorrect. The characters in Japanese are typically used for numbers and pictures. In fact pretty much the only thing similar about the two types of characters would be they both originate from China.
Calligraphy
Remember how we were trying to decide whether or not Chinese writing is art class or writing class, well this is leaning towards art class. Calligraphy is the art of which practices the beautiful characters with a brush and or an dip pen. This is a traditional practice in the Chinese cultural sphere. A student who is very good at traditional Chinese will also be very good at contributing to there standard calligraphy, which is a class in everyday school.