Do you want to master Chinese writing effectively? You may have heard that learning Chinese characters is not easy. What is the first step to do to make your learning process effectively in the future? My suggestion is to understand Chinese character development history.
Generally speaking, there are seven different periods for Chinese character development:
First period--primitive pictures: Before characters appear, our ancestors used primitive pictures to express meanings. Characters are evolved from those primitive pictures.
Second period-- oracle bone inscriptions: Oracle bone inscriptions were simplified primitive pictures which were some abstract symbols carved on tortoise shells or animal bones. It is called "jia3 gu3 wen2" in Chinese.
Third period--brozeware script: Bronzeware script is called "jin1 wen2" in Chinese. "Jin1 wen2" were typecast on bronzewares or other metal wares. It was finer and more beautifully than oracle bone inscriptions.
Fourth period-- seal character: Seal Character is called "zhuan4 shu1" in Chinese. "Zhuan4 shu1" were carved on orderly bamboo pieces or wood blocks. There were two types: one was called "da4 zhuan4" and the other was called "xiao3 zhuan4". "xiao3 zhuan4" was the first character style that was used by whole China as the standard universal characters. It was more simplified than "da4 zhuan4".
Fifth period-- fficial script: Official script is called "li4 shu1" in Chinese. Compared with "xiao3 zhuan4", "li4 shu1" turned round to square in shape and turned curve to straight in line, simplified characters by removing complications in strakes.
Sixth period-- regular script: regular script is called "kai3 shu1" in Chinese. It is a kind of font slightly rebuilt on the basis of official script. It maintained the structure of official script but more convenient to write. It is the standard character writing in regular occasions, easier to master because of fewer basic character strokes, is used until nowadays.
Seven period-- traditional form and simplified form: Before new China was founded, traditional Chinese characters were widely used; it is also regarded as the complex written form. It is still used in HongKong and Taiwan province of China today. For about fifty years, simplified Chinese characters are widely used in the Chinese mainland and it becomes more and more popular now. It has fewer strokes than the complex form. Simplified form still maintains the basic structure of characters and it is much easier to master.
After you learned the development history of Chinese characters, you may have a basic concept of what Chinese characters are and have a good beginning of learning Chinese writing.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Apple Mao is an experienced Mandarin teacher, professional editor and author on the subject of online teaching and Chinese language e-book writing. Her website, http://www.AppleChineseOnline.com provides a wealth of Chinese learning ebooks and free audio courses on self-taught Chinese online, especially a very practical and easy-master Chinese character ebook which is suitable for anyone who is interested in learning Chinese reading and writing.
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