ThedevelopmenthistoryofChinesecharacters中国汉字发展史2011级汉语言文字李慧樊启芬ContentsTaskdivisionOutlineCharacteristhegraphicsymbolsforhumanbeingstocommunicatefeelings,expressideasandrecorddifferentkindsoflanguages.BesidesChinesecharacters,therearesomanykindsofancientcharacters,suchascuneiform['kju:niif?:m]charactersusedbypeopleofancientBabylon['b?bil?n],hieroglyph['hai?r?glif]usedbytheEgyptians[i'd?ip?(?)n],theMayacharactersandsoon.Butsofar,theyallhavedisappearedinhistoryexceptforChinesecharacters.Nowwe’llhaveaspecificunderstandingofthedevelopmenthistoryofChinesecharacters,mainlyincludingoracle-boneinscription(甲骨文）,inscriptionsonbronze（金文）,Smallsealscript（小篆）,clericalscript（隶书）,regularscript(楷书），Cursivescript（草书）runningscript(行书）.Butthelasttwocursivescript（草书）andrunningscript(行书）arenotregardedasthemainfontofthatdynasty,buttheadditionofregularscript(楷书）.汉字形体的历史演变Oracle-boneinscription(甲骨文）Ithasgonethroughquitealongprocessofhistoricaldevelopmentforpictographicwritingtotransformintoasymboloftherecordedlanguages??-Chinesecharacters.WecannowseetheearlieststereotypestextistheOracleoftheYinandZhoudynasty.TheywerecarvedontortoiseshellsandanimalbonesforcontinuallydivinationinShangdynasty.Duringdivination,peoplewouldburnthetortoiseshellsfirst.WhenthosetortoiseshellsCracked,peoplewouldjudgegoodandbadaccordingtothemandcarvetheresultsofthedivinationontortoiseshells.Sowecallthecharacterswhichcarvedontortoiseshellsoranimalbonesoracle-boneinscriptionPictographicwriting甲骨文Inscriptionsonbronze（金文）Inscriptionsonbronzewasusedaslongas1200yearsfromShangdynastytoQingdynasty.Theywereusuallycarvedonceramic[si'r?mik]modelinadvancebeforecasting,Yettherearealsoafewofinscriptionswascarvedonbronzesdirectly.Becauseit’seasiertocarveonbronzethancarveontortoiseshellsandanimalbones,soinscriptionsonbronzelookmorelikeapicturethanoracle-boneinscriptionandmoreclosertotheoriginalcharacters.金文石鼓文金文Smallsealscript（小篆）SmallsealscriptwasadoptedintheQinDynastyforthepurposeofstandardizingthescriptwhichwasissuedbythefirstemperorofQindynasty，anditwasstemfromlargesealscript(大篆）.Atthattime,everycountryhadtheirownwrittenwords.WhenYingzhengunifiedthosecountries,communicationbecameaproblem.Asaresult,heomittedandchangedtheSealscriptwhichhisowncountryusedbeforetoletitbecomeaCommonscript.SowealsocallitQinseal大篆籀文小篆Clericalscript（隶书）InHandynasty,theclericalscriptreplacedthesmallsealscriptandbecomethemaintypeface.Ontheothersideansmallsealscriptismainlyusedasaancientwritingtocarvesealsandbronze.ThusthehistoryofChinesecharactersdepartfromtheancientwritingstagetothestageofLiKai.Thisprocessiscalled‘Libian“.Afterthen,writingspeedbecamemorefastthanbefore，andthecharactersymbolsweremoreclosetothepresentwritting,Yettheycouldbeidentifiedmoreeasier.隶书RegularscriptTheregularscriptissimilarwiththeclericalscriptinthetypefacestructure.Butcomparedtotheclericalscript,theregularscriptchangedthewritingstrokesfromflattoSquare.Wecalledthemhinesecharacters.Afterarangeofchanges,theregularscriptformintoapatterninTangdynasty.楷书CursivescriptCursivescriptwasproducedinWesternHanDynasty.EnteringinEasternHanDynasty,itwascalled"Zhangcao“withsomecharacteristicsofclericalscript.Andlatergeneratedintheregularscript,itwascalled“激ncao".onthebasisofregularscript,黄宾虹（临陆机）今草RunningscriptUnliketheneatofregularscript,unliketheimaginativeofcursive,runningscriptisafontfromtheregularscriptandcursive.Ifregularscriptwaslikeonesitting,andthecursivescriptwaslikeonerunning,thentherunningscriptislikeonewalking.Runningscript,probablybecamepopularintheWei,激nera,andonerepresentativeisthefamouscalligrapher[k?'ligr?f?(r)]WangXizhiofEastern激nDynasty王羲之《兰亭集序》王羲之《兰亭集序》王羲之《快雪时晴贴》王羲之《圣教序》SummaryPrinting,asoneofChina'sfourgreatinventionsalsousedregularscriptasthemainfontoftheprintedbook.InSongdynasty,theregularscriptbecamemorebeautiful,wecallitSongtypeface.Thefontusedintoday'sreadingbooks,newspapersandmagazinesisimitatedSungfontwhichimitatedtheSongtypeface.wwthemegallery
