CHINESE WRITING By Tessa Erickson Thoemke 泰莎泰莎

H ISTORY The Chinese writing system is one of the oldest known written languages in the world. The earliest examples of ancient Chinese writing date back to over 4000 years ago. The earliest writing the we know of is also on animal bones. Silk and paper was used for writing later on. There are four distinct phases of Chinese writing.

P HASES O F W RITING Ji Gu Wen (Oracle Bone)- This type of writing is the earliest of Chinese Symbols. Examples of this method of writing date back to B.C. The symbols were etched onto animal bones and turtle shells. Da zhuan (Greater Seal)- This writing appeared on cast bronze vessels and dated back to B.C. Xiao zhuan (Lesser Seal)- This script is what people normally associate with Chinese writing. It is elegant and flowing, and is originally found on bamboo scrolls. Lis shu (Clerkly script)- This is the modern Chinese writing system. It became popular because it is fast and efficient to write. It is also much easier to use with pens, brushes and paper.

Ji Gu Wen Da zhuan Xiao zhuan Modern Day

W RITING Chinese writing does not have an alphabet. The whole writing system consists of characters that represent one-syllable words. The Chinese characters represent an idea or object directly, rather than a particular word or speech sound. These characters are combined into compound words of two, three, and sometimes four characters. There are literally thousands of different characters.

R ULES F OR S TROKE O RDER Write the character starting at the top and working down. Write from left to right. Write the frames before the contents, and the bottom line of a frame is always drawn last.

The center stroke is before the symmetrical sides. Secondary dots are drawn last. Horizontal lines and squares are drawn before crossing vertical lines. Images from

F ACTS Chinese characters are always written from top to bottom and left to right. The very first Chinese book that was invented consisted of bamboo sticks sewn together side by side. Writing in Chinese with red ink is know to be used when firing someone of cancelling a friendship. Today, Chinese is written with all different kinds of papers and pens. It is most proper to write using and ink brush and rice paper.