Development of Chinese Script

Depending on their structure Chinese characters are sorted into individual groups. This is followed by the description of the development of Chinese writing from the first pictograms to the developed logographic script. The evolution of the graphic forms is also explained. The relation between classic and contemporary Chinese is explained, and the use of Chinese characters for writing contemporary Chinese language is defined. The course also explains the principles behind the writing of Chinese characters, as well as the principles behind simplifying characters, calligraphic writing with a brush, writing foreign words, and writing Chinese with the use of computers. We explain the role and use of radicals when categorising characters and introduce the main Chinese dictionaries and teach the students how to use them. The second important part is the etymologic explanation of the characters which appear in textbooks for the first year studies of contemporary Chinese language with which we explain the development of the individual characters from their original forms and meanings to today’s forms and use.