文字是什么？
文字是什么？文字是人类语言的书写符号,是人类用来进行交际的约定俗成的可见符号系统。语言文字是人类最聪明的发明。汉字是中华传统文化的基本载体，也是中华民族文化传播、交流、延伸的基本工具。
中国汉字有什么特点与优势？中国汉字与现存众多国家和民族的文字相比，有许多鲜明的特点与优势：一是以形表意，形音结合，表现力特强；二是象形文字由无数密码构建而成，包涵的信息量大，从而形成了独特的文字文化；三是清晰简练，言简意赅，层次有序，并特别适合计算机语音的输入；四是形声义三者结合，是人类大脑左右两个半球可以协调动作的复脑文字，对人类智慧的开拓具有巨大潜力；五是结体美观，内涵丰富，韵律感强，兼具形体、内涵、音韵三者结合之美。综上所述，我们可以毫不夸张地说：中国的汉字，不仅是中华文明历史的活化石，而且是世界语言文字进入未来大交流、大融合时期的顶梁柱。
什么是象形文字？
什么是象形文字？象形文字就是画物象其形状，以形状表达其含义的文字。
中国最古老的象形文字可能是古人刻在岩石上的岩画文字，近年来在宁夏中卫市发现的大麦地岩画文字，时间距今约7000至8000年，岩画地带面积约450平方公里，遗存的史前岩画一万幅左右，已发现岩画文字2000多个，有些图形与甲骨文相像，例如对太阳的表述也是圆圈中加一个点。
进入新石器时代，以黄河中游地区为中心包括甘肃西部的仰韶文化，发现彩陶上刻有简单的文字（彩陶文字）。1994年考古工作者在湖北宜昌杨家湾遗址发现的170种刻在彩陶上的符号，记录了当时人们生活中的事物形象，代表固定的含义，有一定的规则，与殷墟甲骨文十分接近。
甲骨文：是殷商时代的一种占卜文字，是古人求神问卜的原始记录，是殷商王国的原始档案。这些非常重要的原始资料，没有经过后人的增删改动而更显得十分宝贵。甲骨文是古人刻在龟甲或兽骨上的文字，自1899年发现以来，已出土甲骨16余万片，经专家学者考证研究，已发现甲骨文单字约4500多个，其中能辨识的近2000字。周灭商后，甲骨文仍然使用，但时间不长。
金文：是指殷商、西周、春秋战国时期铸刻在青铜器上的文字。殷商时期在青铜器上铭刻金文的字数较少，西周时期逐渐增多，到春秋战国时期字数更多。
籀文：是公元前827至782年间由周宣王史官史籀创作，当时是为教育儿童而编写的，史书上称为《史籀篇》，此书所使用的篆书字体，被称作籀文。
古文：是指战国时期秦国以东六国所使用的文字字体。
大篆：是秦国于西周晚期至春秋战国时期在该国范围内通用的字体。
小篆：是秦始皇于公元前221年吞并六国一统天下后，接受丞相李斯建议实行“书同文”政策，对汉字改革的一项重要措施。小篆是由原来秦国的大篆简化而成的，其特点是笔画匀称，线条粗细基本一样，写法写型规格统一，完全改变了金文、籀文异体繁多的状况。小篆字形呈长方形，从而奠定了汉字方块形的基础。由于小篆字体大小划一，文字的图画意味已大为减弱。
汉朝继续使用小篆，并在秦隶的基础上大力推广汉隶，完成了“隶变”，从而成为古今汉字的分水岭。其后相继出现的草书、楷书、行书，使汉字的书写更加气象万千。
关于说文解字:
《说文解字》一书的出现，标志中国语言文字学的诞生。许慎，字叔重，东汉汝南郡召陵县(今河南郾城)人，生于一世纪六十年代前后，卒于二世纪四十年代前后，他是汉代经学大师贾逵的弟子，曾在丞相府任职。他先后用了二十多年的时间搜集文字资料，进行研究写作，于汉安帝建光元年(公元121年)将《说文解字》一书奉献给了朝廷，从此以古代文献为研究对象，具有中国民族特色的语言文字学即由于《说文解字》的问世而正式形成。
唐宋时期，中国的文学昌盛，对语言文字学的研究也有了加强。宋太宗雍熙三年(公元986年)，命徐铉等校定《说文解字》并付国子监雕版印刷。徐铉及其弟徐锴对该书多有补充及注释。
公元1899年后，中国考古学者对殷墟甲骨文的研究，进一步印证了《说文解字》是一部不朽的著作。同时，对照甲骨文，也发现许慎有少数缺失或个别错释之处，从而也为我们后世的汉字研究提出了新的课题。
研究方法：
我们整理写作《中英双注精选象形文字通释》，是在前人和先贤大量研究成果的基础上，试图将甲骨文——篆书——现代汉语这一条线索加以贯通研究，并加以通俗解释，这就是本书定名为通释的缘由。
我们在实践中体会到，要把象形文字的通释做好，首先要掌握好以下方法：
(1). 象形文字解码法：象形文字大多是由密码组成的。什么是密码？简单地说，密码就是符号。文字密码就是文字符号。象形文字的密码是由形符、声符、意符和指示符加以组合而成的。解读象形文字，首先就要解读密码，密码解开了，文字的含义就清晰了，从而就可以了解古人创造那些象形文字的真正含义。例如:
美：甲骨文的“美”字象一个站立的男子，头上有三重羽饰，真像一个头冠华美的武士，或像一个古代主持祭祀的主持人。还有一个甲骨文在头饰下面象有两只手在进行整理打扮。这些密码说明美的真正含义是美丽、美好，既指人的外在美，也指人的内在美。作动词用则指装饰、打扮、美化。至于对女性的美，古人是在美字前再加一个女字来界定的，《说文解字》的注释是:“色好也。从女，从美，美亦声。”美与“丑”相对。假借指好事、好物、令人满意等。美的含义是什么，普通老百姓是比较清楚的，可就是在一些大部头的古汉字辞典或电视台的说文解字节目中，却把美字解释为上是羊，下是大，羊子肥大就是美。他们的依据是许慎对美的另一注释:“美，甘也。从羊，从大。羊在六畜主给膳也。羊与善同义。”应当说甘美、甜美、美膳、美食只是美的引申义，而不是美的真正含义。以偏概全，当然不是最好的解释。
爱：在甲骨文中尚未有爱字出现。篆书的爱字是由一颗包着的心和两只分别置于心字上下的脚构成，表示两个人相爱，或人与人之间的爱，并且直接含有性爱之义。许慎说:“爱，惠爱也。从心，无声。”心是形符，上下两只脚也是形符或指事符，而不应该是声符，也就是说“爱”不是形声字应当是象形字，这仅个人的看法，是否正确？尚须切磋讨论。
(2). 字族文字解析法：象形文字的基本要素是“形”，形是可以分类的，例如：大自然有山、水、木、石、土、田、金、日、月、光、雨、火等；人体形态有头、手、足、耳、目、口、心、脑、鼻、皮、肉、骨等；动物有豕、牛、马、羊、犬、鹿、豸等等。这些分门别类的字词在外国语中相互关联极少，而在汉语中却呈现出许多互联的、有序的、有机的组合。例如一个木字，以它为形符的至少可分出：1部位与形态：木、林、森、根、枝、梢、叶、杆、条等;2 乔木：松、柏、杉、杨、槐、柳、樟、檀、栎、桑、桂等;3 果木：桃、李、杏、橘、柑、桔、柿、梨、果等;4 木制器物：柜、橱、箱、栅、槛、栏、桌、椅、架、梯、桨等;5 与木字相关的动作：相、查、检、核、校、横、榨、染等。只要掌握了字族文字解析法，解读象形文字，就可以举一反三，甚至可以举一反十，收到事半功倍之效。四川省井研县教育局在该县采用这种方法教习汉字，大多数小学三年级的学生就能考过六年级的课程，教育部曾派人去考察，可惜这种教学汉语的方法未能推广。1994年3月29日我曾填了一首“鹧鸪天”词赞井研倡导字族文字：“汉字形声源流长，组成字族乃良方。井研教育集成册，开启智慧价难量。百十字，组一章，同音同义觅偏旁，六年课程三年竣，育得神州满园香”。
(3). 形声规律解析法：三千多年前的甲骨文以象形字为主，形声字仅占20%，发展到二千年前的秦汉时期，形声字大量增加，《说文解字》中，形声字占82%，现代汉语中形声字已占90%。由此可知解析形声字该是多么的重要。形声字有三个优点：一是它有表声部份，一读就能知晓七八分；二是组字方法简单，一形一声，解析比较容易；三是较复杂的形声字有主有次，有规律可循。解析的方法是:①声旁是生母，形旁是晚娘(声在形先的字);②擒贼先擒王，认字先认娘(从形旁诠释字义):③秀才生得尖，认字认半边(只对部份形声字而言)。
(4). 会意解析法：象形文字中有一部份属于会意字，解读时确有一定的难度，只有用会意解析法首先了解其含义，再联系其它部分加以解析，才能最后弄清。例如解读敬字，我们就就有这样的体会。我们至今还没有找到甲骨文的“敬”字。篆书中“敬”字是由苟与攴合成的，这种合成表示什么意思，确实令人费解。不久前我在成都一家宾馆墙上看见一幅以敬字为题的写意画，画一个女子跪在地上对人表示尊敬。我觉得这幅画非常形象，但仔细一看，发现还少了一半，缺了攴字的含义。直到后来我认真解读苟字的甲骨文，才理解到敬字象一只手拿着教鞭，对着一个跪在地上两眼斜视、态度随意的人，意思是要人敬重。许慎说:“敬，肃也。从攴，从苟。” 他另一注是:“敬也。从心，从敬。” 许慎这两个注释是正确而完美的
本书编辑方法：
本书编辑方法简介:
(1) 按汉语拼音字母排序。方法是将甲骨文、篆书(含个别金文)及其解释，按汉语拼音字母顺序编排，并将卷舌音与平舌音分列，便于读者查找。
(2) 精选汉字。从古到今创出的汉字有七八万之多，《康熙字典》收有三万多字，《说文解字》有9353字，另有异体字1163字。但是真正常用的大约就是四五千字，有人说三千字，这似乎少了点，真的不够用。我们反复研究筛选，共列出4500多字，加上个别为解读象形文字而特选的字，以及多音字，一共选了4600字，足够人们识字、写文章、谈话交流、做生意、读诗词等方面使用。
(3) 简繁并用。本书既用简化字，也用繁体字，并将个别简化字在简化后文字含义容易发生混淆的单独列出，这样做，有利于海外的部分华侨及研究者查阅。
(4) 图文并茂。象形文字的特点是以图写形，由形及义。解读象形文字实行图文并茂，十分必要。本书所配解读图画，既有写意的，也有仿甲骨文书写的，可供读者参考。
(5) 中英双注。中文注释比较详细，英文注释删繁就简，直释其义。由于目前能掌握汉语拼音方法的外国人是极少数，为使95%以上没有学过汉语拼音的外国朋友在初学汉语时能直读其音，我们特加了“沟通注音”，以有利于两种语系的沟通与交流。
(6) 全面书写。为读者方便查找，我们对甲骨文、篆书(包括个别金文)，进行了全面书写。甲骨文一字多形，有的一字达几十种写法，为查找简便，我们选择其具代表性的一至数形加以写出。篆书除按《说文解字》加以复制写出外，个别字采用了金文。对于近代新出现的字，我们按象形字的造字方法，形符加声符，逐个写了出来，第一次呈现在读者面前。
致谢：
我们是个志愿组合的团队，大家全凭着对中国文字的兴趣和对中华传统文化的一片热忱，不计时间，义务的投入了这一研究工作。成员中有的人从事教育或研究地质，有的学习农业或商业，也有的专修外语，更有深具修养的书画家等。就连团队的发起人、主编及象形文字的书写者汪岚先生本人，也不是一位文字学工作者，他没有进过专门学校去研习古文字，只是对中国的象形文字抱有浓厚的兴趣，凭着这分兴趣，他不知不觉的由小河走进文字的海洋，在这个神奇的文字海洋中见到了许多从前见所未见、闻所未闻的东西，于是在5年前他发起组成了这个团队，并开始编写工作。
今年年初，这本书包括文字部分、象形书写以及部份插图均已整理完毕，并于2009年9月1日把它放到网上，与网上读者分享。由于我们的水平有限，错误缺点以及错讹之处在所难免，所以抱着谦虚的态度，听取广大读者和专家学者们的批评意见，特此预致谢意。我们会汇集各方面的意见和建议，定期的对网上内容作出修改，以使本书逐步趋于完善。
本网站特别设有“交流” 网页，除请网友及专家学者对我们的网站内容提出批评建议外，还特别欢迎有兴趣的网友将各种文字放进交流网页，互相观摩 ，互相交流。这将是一项更加有趣的工作，我们欢迎更多的朋友共同参与，并在此预致谢意。
主要参考书目
1、《说文解字》最新修订珍藏版----喀什维吾尔文出版社原著（东汉）许慎主编 李恩江 贾玉民 2002年9月第一版
2、甲骨文字形字典----长征出版社陈济 编著 2004年10月第一版
3、甲骨文字趣释----重庆出版社唐治泽撰 2002年10月第一版
4、汉字字源入门----华语教学出版社 王宏源编著 1993年出版
5、趣味字辞典----教育出版社私营有限公司顾建平编著 1996年出版
6、汉字的故事----中国档案出版社李梵 编著 2001年8月第一版
7、现代汉语规范词典----外语教学与研究出版社语文出版社首席顾问 吕叔湘 李荣 许嘉璐 主编 李行健 2004年1月第一版
8、脱口说汉语----当代中国出版社主编 汪岚 编辑江南 张娜美术设计 江福建 2007年4月第一版
9. 精选牛津汉英词典----牛津大学出版社 Concise Chinese- English Dictionary Oxford University Press
10. 汉英词典----北京外国语学院英语系汉英辞典编写组 A Chinese- English Dictionary
11.现代汉英词典----外语教学与研究出版社 Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press
12. 英汉汉英词典----长江出版社 English - Chinese Chinese- English Dictionary Tzang Jiang Press
编辑名单
主编：汪岚(2005年被授予“当代国学家”称号) 联系方式：info@chinapictograph.com
编辑：陆云鹏 联系方式：info@chinapictograph.com
编辑：李龙吟(博士) 联系方式：info@chinapictograph.com
编辑：江南 联系方式：info@chinapictograph.com
编辑：张娜 联系方式：info@chinapictograph.com
英文编辑：李龙吟(博士) 联系方式：info@chinapictograph.com
网站设计：江南 联系方式：info@chinapictograph.com
英文检校：张娜 联系方式：info@chinapictograph.com
美术设计：江福建 联系方式：info@chinapictograph.com
象形文字书写：汪岚 联系方式：info@chinapictograph.com
英文：
This website provides more than 4600 Chinese characters including their simplified and traditional versions, their seal form, oracle bone characters, pinyin, Chinese and English explanations and Chinese and English link-up phonetic notations. It aims at providing a line of pictographic evolution and a link-up channel between Chinese and English. This site is facilitated with both Chinese and English versions. Viewers can view content by searching “Character Table”, “Single Character”, “Alphabetic Order”, “Calligraphy” and “English”.
This site is established by a non-governmental Chinese culture group. Most its content is original, non-original content has been noted its source. Therefore, we respectfully invite anyone who quotes the content of this site to earnestly pronounce the citation source.
What are characters? They are linguistic notations for mankind and visible symbol systems established by usage for human beings to communicate with each others. Language and characters can be viewed as the most intelligent invention of mankind. Chinese characters are the fundamental carriers of traditional Chinese culture and also the essential tools for Chinese ethnic culture to forge its propagation, exchange and extension.
What characteristics and advantages do Chinese characters have? Compared with many existing languages in the world, Chinese characters have some obvious features and advantages. Firstly, the form indicates the meaning and has connection to the pronunciation, therefore they have stronger expressive force; secondly, Chinese pictographs are consist of uncountable codes and contain a large amount of information, thus it’s quite unique; thirdly, it’s focusing, concise, comprehensive and structural, and also suitable for computer input; fourthly, the form, the sound and the meaning three-in-one, so Chinese pictographs are dual brain characters which need coordination between the left and right brains of human beings, and thus have huge potentials to be used for developing human intelligence; fifthly, Chinese pictographs have beautiful structures, rich implications, and better sense of rhythms. Its charm lies on the form, the meaning and the sound three-in-one as mentioned above. In summary, it is no exaggeration to say that Chinese character is not only the living fossil of Chinese culture and history, but also the backbone for the exchange and the blending of world wide languages in the future.
2 What is pictograph?
What is pictograph? A pictograph is a pictorial drawing of a physical object which conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to the object.
The oldest pictograms of China may be the Petroglyphs carved on rocks by ancient Chinese. In recent years, petroglyphs have been found in Zhongwei, Ningxia, which are estimated 7000 to 8000 years old. The petroglyph area is about 450 square kilometers. There are about 10,000 petroglyph pictures and 2,000 petrogrlyph characters found, some characters are similar to oracle bone inscriptions. For example, the sun is represented as a dot in a circle.
In the Neolithic, Yangshao Culture was developed in the middle reach of Yellow River, including west Gansu. It is found that simple characters were inscribed on the painted potteries (the Painted Pottery Inscriptions). In 1994, archeologists discovered 170 symbols inscribed on the painted potteries in Yichang, Hubei, which recorded the objects appeared in human’s life at that time. These inscriptions were written in a constant manner, had stable meanings and are very similar to those oracle bone inscriptions found in Yinxu.
The Oracle Bone Inscriptionswas used for the auspicate purpose and were original records of praying for God. These records were not modified by later generations. Therefore they are very important and invaluable. The oracle bone inscriptions are the ones inscribed on turtle shells or animal bones. Over 160,000 oracle bone inscription pieces have been found since 1899. Based on the experts’ research, more thank 4500 oracle bone inscription words have been found, and about 2000 words have been identified. After Shang was succeeded by Zhou, the oracle bone inscriptions were still used for a short period of time.
The Bronzeware Inscriptions refers to the writings on the bronzeware in Shang, Zhou and the Warring State Period. There were not many bronzeware inscriptions in Shang Dynasty. The inscriptions gradually appeared on the bronzeware of West Zhou. More bronzeware inscriptions were found on the bronzeware of the Warring State Period.
The Zhou Inscriptions was created by Zhou Shi, an history officer of Zhou Xuanwang between 827 and 782 BC. It was written for educating children, historically called 《Shi Zhou Pian》. The seal character of this book is called Lu Inscriptions.
The Ancient Inscriptions is the writings used by the six warring states east of Qin.
Big Seal Style commonly used by Qin in late West Zhou and Warring State Period.
Small Seal Style in 221 BC Qin conquered other six warring states and united China. The Prime Minister, Si Li, suggested a “same writing policy”. The small seal style was a simplified product from the big seal style. The characteristic of this style is that the stroke is well shaped and balanced, the width of strokes is roughly the same. The writing standard is specified, which makes the style look totally different from the bronzeware inscriptions and Lu inscriptions. The small seal characters are rectangular in shape which laid foundation for the shape of current Chinese characters. Due to the same size of small seal characters, the pictorial component is largely reduced.
Han Dynasty continued to use small seal style writings and gradually developed its own official script which became a divide of ancient and contemporary scripts. Later developed cursive, regular and running styles made Chinese writings look more diverse and dynamic.
3 About 《Word And Expression》
《Word And Expression》 symbolized the birth of Chinese philology.
Shen Xu，also named Shuzhong, was born in Zhaoling county, Runan Province of East Han (Today’s Yancheng, Henan Province) around 60 AD and died around 140 AD. He was a disciple of Kui Jia, a famous master of Confucian Classics Studies, and once worked in the Prime Minister Office. He used about twenty years collecting data, writing and researching, and presented the book 《Word And Expression》 to the imperial court of Han An Emperor in the first year of Jianguang (121 AD). The Chinese philology, with the Chinese ethnic characteristics and focusing on studies of ancient articles, took its shape by the appearance of 《Word And Expression》.
The Chinese literature thrived in Tang and Song Dynasties, and the study of Chinese philology was also strengthened in these times. Song Tai Tsung ordered Xuan Xu proofread 《Word And Expression》 that was later published by the imperial academy using the engraving technology. Xuan Xu and his brother Kai Xu added a lot and annotated to the book.
Chinese archeologists’ studies on the Yin Xu’s oracle bone inscriptions since 1899 have further proved that 《Word And Expression》 is a great work. Meanwhile, compared with the oracle bone inscriptions, some missing words and wrong explanations were found in Shen Xu’s book, which brought new tasks of studying Chinese characters to later generations.
4. Research methods
Our Chinese and English bilingual book 《Demotic Explanations of Well Selected Pictographs》 is produced on the basis of tremendous work done by the predecessors and former saints. We attempt to conduct our study by putting the oracle bone inscriptions, the seal character and the modern Chinese in the same line and add straight explanations to the book. This is why we use “demotic explanations” to name the book.
According to our practice, the following methods are essential for correct explanation of a pictograph.
1. Decoding pictograph
Pictographs are mainly composed of codes. What is code? Simply speaking, a code is a sign. Character codes are character signs. Pictographic codes are made up of graphic signs, sound signs, meaning signs and indication signs. To read a pictograph needs to read the codes in it. Once a character is decoded, its meaning is clear, then we can understand why our predecessors used those pictographs.
For example, “美”the oracle bone inscription “美” looks like a standing man with three layers of feathers decorating his head, more like a warrior with beautiful head decorations, also like a compere governing a sacral ceremony. Another oracle bone inscription “美” seems to be a man preening himself using his two hands. These codes indicate that “美” has a meaning of “beauty” and “nicety”, which not only refers to one’s outside beauty but inner side as well. Used as a verb, “美” means “decorate”, “make up” and “prettify”. Our predecessors added “女” to the left side of “美” to describe a woman’s beauty. The book 《Word And Expression》 gave it a meaning of “good-looking”, specifically used for ladies, for beautiful ladies, and pronounced “Mei” which has an opposite meaning to “丑”.The meaning can be extended to “luck”, “good thing” and “satisfactory” etc. Ordinary people knows what “Mei” means, however, some dictionaries or TV programs explained that “美” is made up of two parts, the upper part is “羊”，meaning sheep, and the lower part is “大”, meaning big, so “美” is a big sheep. These dictionaries and TV programs made such explanations based on Shen Xu’s explanation: “美” means “sweet”, is related to “sheep” and “big”. Sheep is a major food source of the six meat animals. “羊” and “膳” shared the same meaning. It should be said that “sweet”, “good meal” and “good food” are the extending meaning of “Mei”, not real meaning of it. The above explanation is certainly not the best because it is quite unilateral and one swallow does make a summer.
“爱” is not found in the oracle bone inscriptions. The seal style of “爱” is made up of a “心”, heart, and two feet respectively positioned above and under “心”, implicating love of two people or among people, and also indicating sexual love. Shen Xu said: “爱” is kindness. “心” is a form sign, the two feet are also the form or object signs, not the sound signs, which means “爱” is not a form-sound character, it is a pictograph. Is that right? Further studies are needed.
2. Analyzing Group Characters
The basic element of pictographs is the form or shape. The shape can be categorized, for example, there are mountains, rivers, wood, stones, soil, fields, gold, the sun, the moon, light, rain and fires in the nature. The head, hands, feet, ears, eyes, mouth, heart, brain, nose, flesh and bones etc are related to human body. In the animal world, we can see pig, ox, horse, sheep, dog, and deer etc and etc. These words are less related in other languages, but in Chinese, they are related and orderly combined. For example, the character “木” is used as the form or shape sign in many character groups. 1) Plant part: wood（木）, woods (林), forest (森), root (根), branch (枝), treetop (梢), leave (叶), stem (杆) and twig (条) etc. 2）Arbor: pine (松), cypress (柏), cedar (杉), poplar (杨), pagoda tree (槐), willow (柳), camphor (樟), sandelbaum (檀)， oak (栎), mulberry (桑), laurel (桂). 3）Fruit tree: peach (桃), plum (李), apricot (杏), tangerine (橘), orange (柑), mandarin (桔), persimmon (柿), pear (梨), fruit (果). 4) Wooden things: cupboard (柜), cabinet (橱), trunk (箱), grid (栅), doorsill (槛),fence (栏), desk (桌), chair (椅), shelf (架), ladder (梯) and oar (桨) etc. 5) Actions related to “木”: look (相), check (查), examine (检), verify (核), proofread (校), regular script (楷), 、横、extract (榨), dye (染) etc. Once this analysing method is grasped , it can be repeatedly used for recognising and identifying pictographs with less time spending and better effectiveness. Jingyan County Education Bureau of Sichuan Province used this kind of method to teach students Chinese characters, most year three students were proved to be equivalent to the year six students of traditional teaching method. The Ministry of Education once dispatched an officer to exmanine the teaching method, unfortunately it was not widely adopted. On 29th of March 1994, I wrote a poem “ZHE GU TIAN” to appraise Jingyan County’s pioneer work on group character study.
3. Analysing the phonograms
The oracle bone scriptions of three thousand years old are mainly pictographs, the phonograms account for only about 20 percent. Until Qin and Han Dynasties of 2000 years ago, the phonograms were dramatically increased. In 《Word And Expression》, the phonograms were about 82 percent. In modern Chinese, there are about 90 percent phonograms. It can be seen that it is important to analyse the phonograms. The phonograms have three advantages. Firstly, they have elements indicating pronounciation, one 70-80 percent knows how to read them simply by first look; secondly, the character structure is simple, there is an element for form and also an element for pronounciation, it is easy to analyse; thirdly, there are rules applied to more complicated phonograms. The following methods apply: a) the sound element is parent, the form element step mother ( the sound element is prior to the form element); b) to catch the bandits, first catch the ringleader, to know how to read, first know what is parent element (the form element contains real meaning); c) a scholar is shrewd enough to just read the half character (only for some phonograms).
4. Analysing the ideographs
There is a portion of ideographs in pictographs, it is difficult indeed to read them. We can analyse and understand their meaning first using some indications, a full understanding can only be achieved through thorough examination combining other methods, which is quite true when we try to read “敬”. So far we have not found the oracle bone inscription that is equivalent to “敬”. The seal style “敬” is combined by “苟” and “攴”. What meaning does this combination have? It is inexplicable. Not long ago, I spotted a monochrome abbrivated ink work on a hotel wall in Chengdu which illustrated “敬” as a woman kneeling down to show her respect. The visualization of this work is vivid, but carefully examining the work, I found something is missing, there is nothing for “攴”. Later I studied the oracle bone insription “苟” in details and understand that “敬” is something like a hand holding a teaching rod and facing an ill-mannered pupil. The meaning is to let someone respect. Shen Xu expained that “敬” is solemn having something to do with respect. In another explanation, he refered “敬” as respect which has something to do with heart. Shen Xu’s above expanations are correct.
5. Editorial Methods
Instruction on the editorial methods
1. Ordered in Pinyin Alphabets: Characters of the oracle bone inscriptions, seal styles (occasionally the bronzeware inscriptions) and their explanations have been ordered using Pinyin alphabets. The retroflex characters have been separated in order for easy look up.
2. Well Selected Characters: From the ancient time to now, about 70 and 80 thousand characters or more have been created. There are about 30 thousand characters in 《Kangxi Dictionary》. 9395 characters have been identified in 《Word and Expression》. Another 1163 have falled into the variant form of Chinese characters. Those in common use are about 4 or 5 thousands. Some said 3 thousands, the number seemed too low and not enough. We studied and selected again and again, 4500 characters are listed. In addition to some polyphones and special ones used for identifying pictorgraphs, there are 4600 characters in this book which is quite enough for you to use in reading, writing, conversation, doing business and so on.
3. Both Simplified and Traditonal Characters Are Used: this book contains not only the simplified word but the trational one as well. Some simplified ones, their meanings are confusing, have been listed separately. It is good for overseas Chinese and scholars to study.
4. Text Facilitated with Pictures: One of the characteristics of pictographs is their drawing forms which extend meanings. It is necessary to use drawings to enhance the text. Some of the drawings in this book are impressionistic ones and some are imitaged from the oracle bone inscriptions, which will be useful for readers.
5. Chinese-English Bilingual Explanations: Chinese explanations are more detailed, while English explanations simplified to directly express the meaning. We implemented “link up phonetic notations” in this book to facilitate the communication of the two language systems because not many foreigners can handle Pinyin. The link up phonetic notations will make 95 percent of those who have not studied Pinyin to be able to read the characters.
6. Character Calligraphies: To help look up characters, we hand write the oracle bone inscriptions and seal styles including some bronzeware inscriptions. One oracle bone inscription may have multiple forms. Sometimes one word can be written in tens different forms. We have chosen to write one or more typical forms. The seal styles in this book are imitated from《Word and Expression》. Some characters are written in Bronzeware style. To some new words, we write them out for the first time based on the pictograph-making method-the form element plus sound element.
6. references
主要参考书目
1、《说文解字》最新修订珍藏版----喀什维吾尔文出版社原著（东汉）许慎主编 李恩江 贾玉民 2002年9月第一版
2、甲骨文字形字典----长征出版社陈济 编著 2004年10月第一版
3、甲骨文字趣释----重庆出版社唐治泽撰 2002年10月第一版
4、汉字字源入门----华语教学出版社 王宏源编著 1993年出版
5、趣味字辞典----教育出版社私营有限公司顾建平编著 1996年出版
6、汉字的故事----中国档案出版社李梵 编著 2001年8月第一版
7、现代汉语规范词典----外语教学与研究出版社语文出版社首席顾问 吕叔湘 李荣 许嘉璐 主编 李行健 2004年1月第一版
8、脱口说汉语----当代中国出版社主编 汪岚 编辑江南 张娜美术设计 江福建 2007年4月第一版
9. 精选牛津汉英词典----牛津大学出版社 Concise Chinese- English Dictionary Oxford University Press
10. 汉英词典----北京外国语学院英语系汉英辞典编写组 A Chinese- English Dictionary
11.现代汉英词典----外语教学与研究出版社 Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press
12. 英汉汉英词典----长江出版社 English - Chinese Chinese- English Dictionary Tzang Jiang Press
Editor List:
Cheif Editor：汪岚(2005年被授予“当代国学家”称号) contact：info@chinapictograph.com
Editor：陆云鹏 contact：info@chinapictograph.com
Editor：李龙吟(博士) contact：info@chinapictograph.com
Editor：江南 contact：info@chinapictograph.com
Editor：张娜 contact：info@chinapictograph.com
Englich Editor：李龙吟(博士) contact：info@chinapictograph.com
Englich Editor：陆云鹏 contact：info@chinapictograph.com
Website Design：江南 contact：info@chinapictograph.com
Englich Editor：张娜 contact：info@chinapictograph.com
Art Designer：江福建 contact：info@chinapictograph.com
Calligraphy of Pictographs：汪岚 contact：info@chinapictograph.com
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