What is the historical process of Chinese character development?

The evolution process of Chinese characters is Oracle Bone Inscriptions → bronze inscription → Dazhuan → Xiaozhuan → Six-country script → Li Kai → simplification. Details are as follows:

1, Oracle Bone Inscriptions: ancient writing or carving left on tortoise shells and animal bones. At present, the earliest Oracle bone inscriptions are found in the Shang Dynasty in Pan Geng. Most Oracle bone inscriptions are pictographs or knowing characters, and pictographs only account for about 20%. Oracle Bone Inscriptions is very pictographic, with many characters and uncertain strokes. This shows that China's writing was not unified in the Yin and Shang Dynasties.

2. Bronze inscriptions: In ancient times, copper was called gold, so the characters cast on bronze were called bronze inscriptions, also known as Zhong Dingwen and inscriptions. Most of the inscriptions on bronze in Shang Dynasty are hieroglyphs and interchangeable characters synthesized from hieroglyphs. These words are picturesque, vivid, vigorous and natural, while others are ups and downs.

3. Dazhuan: According to legend, it was created by Shi Shu (Zhou Xuanwang historian) in Zhou Dynasty, so it is also called Wen Shu, Shu Zhuan, Shu Shu, etc. Dazhuan can be found in Shuowen Jiezi and various Zhong Ding artworks collected by later generations, among which Shi Guwen by Zhou Xuanwang is the most famous. Dazhuan is a kind of Chinese character font that changes from ancient Chinese characters to Xiaozhuan.

4. Xiao Zhuan: Xiao Zhuan is simplified from Da Zhuan. Compared with the big seal, the small seal has a simple, regular and harmonious body structure, even and neat strokes, and the radicals have also changed and merged to some extent. Compared with the big seal script, the picturesqueness of the small seal script is greatly weakened, and the structure of each word is relatively fixed.

5. Six-nation scripts: The scripts used by countries other than Qin are collectively referred to as "six-nation scripts". Six-country characters belong to the category of ancient Chinese characters, which are graphic, uncertain in shape and difficult to identify.

6. Li Kai: Shortly after the popularity of Biography, people created a new book style that was simpler and more stereotyped than Biography. This is the official script. Li Shu changed the lines of seal script into square strokes, which complied with the social demand for convenient and standardized writing.

7. Simplification: Many Chinese characters have been written in various ways since ancient times, some with more strokes and some with fewer strokes. More strokes are called traditional Chinese characters, and fewer strokes are called simplified Chinese characters.

Extended data:

The structure of Chinese characters can change greatly in a short time, which is reflected in the transformation from big seal to small seal, from small seal to official script, and from traditional Chinese characters to simplified Chinese characters. The reform of Chinese characters corresponds to the great development of productive forces, which is reflected in the fact that the two active periods of Chinese character reform (the Qin Dynasty and the 20th century) both occurred during the great development of productive forces.

This phenomenon can be explained by Marx's historical materialism: Chinese characters are essentially a production tool, and the great development of productive forces provides a technical and humanistic basis for the innovation of production tools, which will promote the improvement of production efficiency, thus meeting the requirements of further development of productive forces.

In addition, the great development of productive forces and the reform of Chinese characters require China to be in a relatively unified and stable political situation. This is also one of the reasons.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Evolution of Chinese Characters The evolution process of Chinese characters is Oracle Bone Inscriptions → Jinwen → Dazhuan → Xiaozhuan → Six Kingdoms → Li Kai → Simplification. Details are as follows:

1, Oracle Bone Inscriptions: ancient writing or carving left on tortoise shells and animal bones. At present, the earliest Oracle bone inscriptions are found in the Shang Dynasty in Pan Geng. Most Oracle bone inscriptions are pictographs or knowing characters, and pictographs only account for about 20%. Oracle Bone Inscriptions is very pictographic, with many characters and uncertain strokes. This shows that China's writing was not unified in the Yin and Shang Dynasties.

2. Bronze inscriptions: In ancient times, copper was called gold, so the characters cast on bronze were called bronze inscriptions, also known as Zhong Dingwen and inscriptions. Most of the inscriptions on bronze in Shang Dynasty are hieroglyphs and interchangeable characters synthesized from hieroglyphs. These words are picturesque, vivid, vigorous and natural, while others are ups and downs.

3. Dazhuan: According to legend, it was created by Shi Shu (Zhou Xuanwang historian) in Zhou Dynasty, so it is also called Wen Shu, Shu Zhuan, Shu Shu, etc. Dazhuan can be found in Shuowen Jiezi and various Zhong Ding artworks collected by later generations, among which Shi Guwen by Zhou Xuanwang is the most famous. Dazhuan is a kind of Chinese character font that changes from ancient Chinese characters to Xiaozhuan.

4. Xiao Zhuan: Xiao Zhuan is simplified from Da Zhuan. Compared with the big seal, the small seal has a simple, regular and harmonious body structure, even and neat strokes, and the radicals have also changed and merged to some extent. Compared with the big seal script, the picturesqueness of the small seal script is greatly weakened, and the structure of each word is relatively fixed.

5. Six-nation scripts: The scripts used by countries other than Qin are collectively referred to as "six-nation scripts". Six-country characters belong to the category of ancient Chinese characters, which are graphic, uncertain in shape and difficult to identify.

6. Li Kai: Shortly after the popularity of Biography, people created a new book style that was simpler and more stereotyped than Biography. This is the official script. Li Shu changed the lines of seal script into square strokes, which complied with the social demand for convenient and standardized writing.

7. Simplification: Many Chinese characters have been written in various ways since ancient times, some with more strokes and some with fewer strokes. More strokes are called traditional Chinese characters, and fewer strokes are called simplified Chinese characters.

Extended data:

The structure of Chinese characters can change greatly in a short time, which is reflected in the transformation from big seal to small seal, from small seal to official script, and from traditional Chinese characters to simplified Chinese characters. The reform of Chinese characters corresponds to the great development of productive forces, which is reflected in the fact that the two active periods of Chinese character reform (the Qin Dynasty and the 20th century) both occurred during the great development of productive forces.

This phenomenon can be explained by Marx's historical materialism: Chinese characters are essentially a production tool, and the great development of productive forces provides a technical and humanistic basis for the innovation of production tools, which will promote the improvement of production efficiency, thus meeting the requirements of further development of productive forces.

In addition, the great development of productive forces and the reform of Chinese characters require China to be in a relatively unified and stable political situation. This is also one of the reasons.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Evolution of Chinese Characters