Well, the story about Chinese characters.

In the early days of human society, productivity was extremely low. For the sake of survival, people have to unite and use primitive and crude production tools to fight against nature. In the struggle, language was born in order to exchange ideas and transmit information. But language is fleeting, and it can neither be preserved nor spread to distant places, and some information that needs to be preserved and spread to distant places can not be preserved only by the memory of the human brain. As a result, the most primitive methods of writing notes-"structured notes" and "engraved notes" came into being.

Jieshengshi

Before writing appeared, people used various methods to remember things, among which knotting and lettering were the most commonly used. In China's ancient books, there are many records about tying ropes. The Book of Changes and Biography of Knoting Ropes in the Warring States Period BC said: "There was a rule of knotting rope in ancient times, and later saints used books easily." Zheng Xuan, a native of the Han Dynasty, also said in the Book of Changes: "The ancients had no words, and tying a rope was a promise, a big event, and a big knot; Things are small, sum up the rope. " The left Book of Changes quoted from Jiu Jia Yi also said: "The ancients had no words, but vows, big events, big ropes, small things, small ropes and knots. It is enough to treat each other. " This is about making promises, which is quite clear and specific.

Skeleton map of Yangshao site

Carving notes

The main purpose of lettering is to record numbers. Liu Xi of the Han Dynasty said in "Notes on the Deeds of the Famous Book": "When deeds are engraved, their numbers are also engraved." It is clearly stated that the deed is lettering, and the purpose of lettering is to help mark. Because when people conclude a contractual relationship, quantity is the most important and the most likely factor to cause disputes. Therefore, people use lettering to mark numbers with certain lines and engrave them on bamboo or wood chips as a "contract" between the two parties. This is an ancient "deed" Later, people separated the deed from the middle and divided it into two halves, each holding half, based on the coincidence of the two. Ancient contracts are engraved with numbers, which are mainly used as proof of debt. The picture on the right shows the skeleton of Yangshao site unearthed in Zhoujiazhai, Xining County, Gansu Province.

Knotting notes, carving notes and other similar notes can be found in different ethnic groups all over the world. China until after the Song Dynasty, there were knots in the south. Peru in South America is especially famous. Some ethnic groups can also use the color and knot of the rope to write down something accurately.

As an original note-taking method, knotting notes, whether tied with a rope or crossed with multiple ropes, is only a simple concept in the final analysis, which is used to express and record numbers or directions and is an ideographic form. It can be regarded as a brewing stage before the appearance of words, but it can't evolve into words, let alone the appearance of words. Because it can only help people remember something, but it can't exchange ideas, and it doesn't have the attributes of language exchange and recording. So it is impossible for knotted notes to develop into words.

The use of hieroglyphics

The use of hieroglyphics

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Due to the shortage of knotting notes and lettering notes, people have to use some other methods, such as pictures, to help them remember and express their thoughts. Painting has led to the emergence of words. Mr. Tang Lan said in China Philology: "It's natural for words to come into being. Tens of thousands of years ago, Paleolithic people had good paintings. Most of these paintings are animals and portraits, which are the predecessors of characters. " However, only after "a more universal and extensive language" can pictures play the role of words and be transformed into words. For example, if someone draws a tiger, everyone will call it "tiger" when they see it; Draw an elephant and everyone will call it "elephant" when they see it. Over time, people habitually use pictures like "tiger" and "elephant" mentioned above, which are between pictures and words. As time goes on, there are more and more such pictures, and the paintings are not so realistic. Such a picture gradually shifts to the direction of words, which eventually leads to the separation of words and pictures. In this way, the picture is divided into the original realistic picture and the picture text that has become a text symbol. The hieroglyphics further developed into hieroglyphics. As "China Philology" said: "Words are based on pictures, and the original words are pictures that can be read, but not all pictures can be read. Later, the difference between words and pictures gradually became obvious. Words are no longer pictures, but words. Writing skills don't need realistic descriptions. As long as the characteristics are written, they are generally good and can be understood by people. " This is the original text.