I notice that China always includes Taiwan in their country maps.
Posted on 03/22/2006 4:10:44 PM PST by blam
Pottery offers clues to origin of Chinese characters
www.chinaview.cn 2006-03-22 21:10:18
HEFEI, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese archaeologists claim that pottery utensils dating back 7,000 years ago which bear inscriptions of various symbols are probably one of the origins of Chinese characters.
They made the conclusion on the basis of several years' study into the symbols carved on over 600 pottery ware items unearthed from the New Stone Age site in Shuangdun village, Xiaobengbu town of Bengbu, a city in East China's Anhui Province.
The symbols include rivers, animals and plants, and activities such as hunting, fishing and arable farming, as well as symbols recording events, said Han Xuhang, a research fellow with the Anhui Provincial Archaeological Research Institute.
The pottery mainly includes bowls and cups, with all the symbols carved on the bottom or on hidden parts of the pottery. "It is obvious that these symbols were not used to decorate the pottery utensils but had a special meaning and purpose," said Xu Dali, an associate research fellow with the Bengbu City Museum.
Xu said the symbols are carved in pairs and also in groups, which express comparatively complete meanings and show the characteristics of sentences and paragraphs.
Similar symbols were also discovered in other places nearby, which shows that these symbols were recognized and used in a certain region, said Xu.
Many of the symbols are similar to the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BC) and many are still conserved in characters used by ethnic groups today, said Xu.
Li Boqian, head of the ancient civilization research center of Beijing University, said that the origin of characters has a long process of development.
The period from 9,000 years to 4,000 years ago was the origin and initial development period of Chinese characters, and the period from 4,000 years ago to 221 BC was the time when characters developed towards maturity, which was followed by a period of wide use of characters after Qinshihuang, China's first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (211-207 BC).
These notional symbols are an important link in the development of Chinese characters and could be one of the origins of Chinese characters, said Li.
The discovery of so many symbols at Shuangdun ruins is rarely seen in the research into ancient civilizations and "it gives us great hope of finding more important archaeological discoveries," said Li Xueqin, chairman of the China Pre-Qin Dynasty Historiography Society.
The discovery not only provides important clues about the origin of Chinese characters, but also an opportunity to review the existing theory on the origin of Chinese characters, said Li, who is also a professor with Qinghua University.
Covering 12,000 sq m, the Shuangdun ruins were first discovered in 1985 and excavations were made on an area of 375 square meters from 1986 to 1992. The ruins were regarded as the earliest New Stone Age site in the area along the middle reaches of the Huaihe River, the third largest river in China.
The Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys have been regarded as the cradles of Chinese civilization. Discovery of the Shuangdun ruins shows that the Huaihe River valley also has its own independent cultural system and is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization, Li said. Enditem
I notice that China always includes Taiwan in their country maps.
writer£º Cai Linhai date£º 2006-1-11 19:54:55
The said cemetery is situated in Minhe Basin at the east end of the Yellow River valley in Qinghai Province. The tablelands there are broad and weather mild. Their sea altitude measures between 1800 to 1900 meters. Formerly known as Han tombs at Chouxia kou (Zhongchuanxiang), Hulijia Han tombs are located at the third and fourth mesas northeast of Hulijia Village where the Yellow River and Damajia River meet.
The most significant among the findings from Huliajia Han tombs are those unearthed bones. Examination and analysis of bones from one tomb have revealed that the physiognomic features of these three skeletons belong to those of the Caucasians. This is the only group of ethnical data associated with the Caucasians that have been found in this province. It meanwhile also constitutes the furthest east Caucasian remains of dead from ancient times.
Chronologically, the tombs fall under the periods of the Late Western Han, Wang Mang reign, mid-Eastern Han, and late Eastern Han. Generally speaking, Han tombs at Hulijia do not differ significantly from tombs located at other regions of Qinghai in terms of types and configurations.
Nonetheless, Hulijia Han tombs present some characters of their own as well. For example, the sets of glazed potteries are rich in kind, including ¡®ear cups¡¯(erbei), zun vessels, kettles, granary models, well models, bowls, plates, stoves, desks, bottles, zeng cooking vessels, and ovens, totaling fifteen in kind. This is where the richest glazed potteries have been found in Qinghai.
writer£º date£º 2005-11-23 17:15:08
Glass remains over 1,700 years old, possibly imported from ancient Rome, have been discovered in an ancient tomb located in east China's Anhui Province, local cultural relic department said on Sunday.
The tomb was found during the latest road project in Zhulong Village of Dangtu County in Anhui. Archaeologists believed the tomb was built in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 - 420).
Covered with white mantlerock, the glass remains seem to have ancient Roman shapes and craftwork.
According to the local cultural relic department, the owner of the tomb was possibly from an eminent family of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Besides the "Roman glass," other rare articles including a gold bracelet, a silver ring, a bronze bowl and porcelain were also discovered in the tomb.
Currently, pieces of the "Roman glass" have been sent to the Anhui-based University of Science and Technology of China for further study and analysis, said the local cultural relic department.
From£ºChinaCulture.org
Psssst, (pulling at poster's ear), you might want to keep it quiet but Taiway always shows China as part of their country.
One of the most fascinating books in my library is called 'The Discovery of Genesis'. In this book, a whole range of Chinese characters are shown to very closely match the Genesis story of the Bible.
LOL. I guess it makes sense if you claim to be the legitimate government of all China. (...and, both do)
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Does Taiwan still claim to be the legitimate government of all China? I don't think they have since the KMT lost power. You really can't make noises about 'independence' & then turn around and claim to want the whole ball of wax. But I guess if anybody could figure out a way to reconcile those seemingly opposite trends the Chinese could.
Recent analysis has demonstrated that some Chinese writing systems were developed by Mesopotamians ~ so the Chinese have returned to their digs where they know the pottery has various "symbols" to find more evidence that their current writing methods had NO Mesopotamian influence.
More recently there have been discoveries in the West (meaning Russia, Uzbekistan, etc.) where similar pottery was discovered. At the moment it is believed the symbols are not "writing" but just magic marks made by shamen.
The Chinese are attacking that idea too ~ note the reference to sentences.
Frankly, it's all nonsense. I can take my handy/dandy guide to Sioux sign language and read Shang Dynasty characters any time ~ which means, of course, that writing, and reading, are processes inherent in human consciousness. All that's needed is a set of agreed upon standards. Wouldn't be surprised to find Ice Age writing eventually.
Tibet is a separate country currently OCCUPIED by china
Actually Taiwan shows China + MONGOLIA as their territory.
Very curious. Wasn't it about 12,000 years ago that Asia orientals walked over what is now the Bering Strait to become North America's Eskimos and American Indians? Maybe this explains why China has these characters but the American Indians don't.
Last year, in a book entitled Origin of the Olmec Civilization, Professor Mike Xu, a Chinese who teaches in the foreign languages department at the University of Central Oklahoma, proposed a hypothesis which aroused a storm of controversy in archeological circles. In Xu's view, the first complex culture in Mesoamerica may have come into existence with the help of a group of Chinese who fled across the seas as refugees at the end of the Shang dynasty. The Olmec civilization arose around 1200 BC, which coincides with the time when King Wu of Zhou attacked and defeated King Zhou, the last Shang ruler, bringing his dynasty to a close.
Furthermore, Xu had "explosive" evidence in the form of the written word. Over the past three years he has found some 150 glyphs on photographs of and real specimens of Olmec pottery, jade artifacts and sculptures. As well as himself leafing through dictionaries of ancient Chinese, he has also taken his drawings of these markings to be examined by mainland Chinese experts in ancient writing, and most have agreed that they closely resemble the characters used in Chinese oracle bone writings and bronze inscriptions.
That's a lot more recent. Sailed the big ocean? In what? The Bering Strait would be wild and impassable by any primitive craft.
I suspect that's where we're going wrong.
Did they supposedly call occupants of interplanetary craft or sumfin? It's difficult for modern power ships to make that trip.
A big ol' batch of Asiatic type people moved to America circa 5000 years ago. They are the Na Dene ~ Navajo, Apache, Yaqui, Aztec (and others). Sioux sign language IS Shang Dynasty characters. I don't know if the Navajo still use them.
Not quite sure why early Shang refugees would go all the way to the Bering Strait. It would make much more sense to island hop in the Aleutians.
Sign language -- as in hand gestures? How do you do a Chinese character with that?
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