汉字，记录历史的符号（英）

　　汉字从哪里来？它是如何一步步演变为今天的汉字形态的？汉字作为记录历史的符号，它又承载了哪些丰富的文化信息？本书首先讲述汉字的发展史，以及一代代知识人、保护者对于汉字遗产的珍视与深情；接着，分析汉字的造字法则，从汉字的造字规律中体会中国人的思考、感知与创造；后，选取极具中国文化代表的20个汉字，追溯字形源流、字义演变，同时引入文学、哲学作品，引入相应的绘画、青铜器、陶瓷、建筑等美术作品资源，将文字与文学、哲学、艺术互为印证，共同还原出中国历史文化的生动图景，古典中国文明的博大精深。Where do Chinese characters come from？ How did it gradually evolve into the form of Chinese characters today？ Chinese characters， as historical symbols， carry which rich cultural information？ This book tells the history of the development of Chinese characters， and the cherish and deep feeling of generations of Chinese people for the heritage of Chinese characters; Then， it experiences Chinese people's thinking， perception and creation according to the analyzing of the formation of the structure of Chinese characters and writing rules. Finally， it selects the representative 20 characters of Chinese culture to trace the origin and evolution of Chinese characters. The literary and philosophical works and the corresponding paintings， bronzes， ceramics， construction and other works of fine art resources were introduced to corroborate each other， restore a vivid picture of Chinese history and culture， thereby reflect the extensiveness and the profoundness of classical Chinese civilization.

　　Chen Xuejing， Ph.D.， a teacher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， and the deputy secretary of the Imperial Palace Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He has published several books， representing the work of “Where to Look： About Painting”， “Red Letters from Home： Documentary on Paper”. He has served as a guest writer for CCTV cultural documentaries such as “The Imperial Palace” and “Dunhuang”.

ContentsPreface.......................................................................................01Introduction................................................................................05Chapter IDevelopment of Chinese CharactersSection 1 Origin of Chinese Characters ...................................................002Section 2 Inscriptions on Bones or Tortoise Shells in the Shang Dynasty......010Section 3 Inscriptions Carved on Bronze Ware..........................................021Section 4 Seal Script: Emperor’s Characters..............................................030Section 5 Lishu Official Script: Turning Point of Ancient and Modern Fonts....043Section 6 Cursive Script: Simple and Fast Writing......................................050Section 7 Kaishu: Exemplary Script...........................................................058Section 8 Running Script: Fall in Between Kaishu and Cursive Script...........070Section 9 Inclusive Chinese Characters.....................................................083Chapter IIRules of Chinese Characters InventionSection 1 Six Categories of Chinese Characters........................................090Section 2 The Methods of Chinese Characters Invention............................093Chapter IIIChina in the Chinese CharactersSection 1 Heaven....................................................................................116Section 2 Sun..........................................................................................122Section 3 Mountain.................................................................................128Section 4 Water.......................................................................................135Section 5 Wood.......................................................................................141Section 6 Deities.....................................................................................147Section 7 Ghosts.....................................................................................154Section 8 Rites.........................................................................................159Section 9 Music.......................................................................................164Section 10 Poetry.......................................................................................168Section 11 Art...........................................................................................176Section 12 People......................................................................................179Section 13 Son..........................................................................................184 Section 14 Woman....................................................................................187Section 15 Meeting...................................................................................190Section 16 Tea..........................................................................................194Section 17 Instruments...............................................................................200Section 18 Book........................................................................................204Section 19 See..........................................................................................209Section 20 Learn.......................................................................................213Postscript Salute to Chinese Characters and Chinese Culture.....................218AppendixA Brief Chinese Chronology......................................................223