A report on Chinese characters

Excerpt from a 1436 primer on Chinese characters
Comparative evolution from pictograms to abstract shapes, in cuneiform, Egyptian and Chinese characters
Ox scapula with oracle bone inscription
The Shi Qiang pan, a bronze ritual basin dated to around 900 BC. Long inscriptions on the surface describe the deeds and virtues of the first seven Zhou kings.
A page from a Song dynasty publication in a regular script typeface which resembles the handwriting of Ouyang Xun from Tang Dynasty
The first batch of Simplified Characters introduced in 1935 consisted of 324 characters.
Current (dark green) and former extension (light green) of the use of Chinese characters
The first two lines of the classic Vietnamese epic poem The Tale of Kieu, written in the Nôm script and the modern Vietnamese alphabet. Chinese characters representing Sino-Vietnamese words are shown in green, characters borrowed for similar-sounding native Vietnamese words in purple, and invented characters in brown.
Mongolian text from The Secret History of the Mongols in Chinese transcription, with a glossary on the right of each row
Sample of the cursive script by Chinese Tang dynasty calligrapher Sun Guoting, c. 650 AD
Chinese calligraphy of mixed styles written by Song dynasty (1051–1108 AD) poet Mifu. For centuries, the Chinese literati were expected to master the art of calligraphy.
The first four characters of Thousand Character Classic in different type and script styles. From right to left: seal script, clerical script, regular script, Ming and sans-serif.
Variants of the Chinese character for guī 'turtle', collected c. 1800 from printed sources. The one at left is the traditional form used today in Taiwan and Hong Kong,, though may look slightly different, or even like the second variant from the left, depending on your font (see Wiktionary). The modern simplified forms used in China,, and in Japan, 亀, are most similar to the variant in the middle of the bottom row, though neither is identical. A few more closely resemble the modern simplified form of the character for diàn 'lightning', 电.
Five of the 30 variant characters found in the preface of the Imperial (Kangxi) Dictionary which are not found in the dictionary itself. They are 為 (爲) wèi "due to", 此 cǐ "this", 所 suǒ "place", 能 néng "be able to", 兼 jiān "concurrently". (Although the form of 為 is not very different, and in fact is used today in Japan, the radical 爪 has been obliterated.) Another variant from the preface, 来 for 來 lái "to come", also not listed in the dictionary, has been adopted as the standard in Mainland China and Japan.
The character 次 in Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. If you have an appropriate font installed, you can see the corresponding character in Vietnamese:.
Zhé, "verbose"
Zhèng (unknown meaning)
alternative form of Taito
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Cumulative frequency of simplified Chinese characters in Modern Chinese text
Kanji for 剣道 (Kendo), pronounced differently from the Korean term 劍道 (Kumdo), or the Chinese words 劍道 (jiàndào; it is more common to use the expressions 劍術 jiànshù or 劍法 jiànfǎ in Chinese).
Nàng, "poor enunciation due to snuffle"
Taito, "the appearance of a dragon in flight"
Biáng, a kind of noodle in Shaanxi

Chinese characters are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese.

- Chinese characters
Excerpt from a 1436 primer on Chinese characters

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Nihon Shoki (720 AD), considered by historians and archaeologists as the most complete extant historical record of ancient Japan, was written entirely in kanji.

Kanji

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Nihon Shoki (720 AD), considered by historians and archaeologists as the most complete extant historical record of ancient Japan, was written entirely in kanji.
A young woman practicing kanji. Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Yōshū Chikanobu, 1897.
A jūbako (重箱), which has a mixed on-kun reading
A yutō (湯桶), which has a mixed kun-on reading
An image that lists most joyo-kanji, according to Halpern's KKLD indexing system, with kyo-iku kanji color-coded by grade level

Kanji (漢字) are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese.

China

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Country in East Asia.

Country in East Asia.

China (today's Guangdong), Mangi (inland of Xanton), and Cataio (inland of China and Chequan, and including the capital Cambalu, Xandu, and a marble bridge) are all shown as separate regions on this 1570 map by Abraham Ortelius
10,000 years old pottery, Xianren Cave culture (18000–7000 BCE)
Yinxu, the ruins of the capital of the late Shang dynasty (14th century BCE)
China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, is famed for having united the Warring States' walls to form the Great Wall of China. Most of the present structure, however, dates to the Ming dynasty.
Map showing the expansion of Han dynasty in the 2nd century BC
The Tang dynasty at its greatest extent
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The Qing conquest of the Ming and expansion of the empire
The Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China to defeat the anti-foreign Boxers and their Qing backers. The image shows a celebration ceremony inside the Chinese imperial palace, the Forbidden City after the signing of the Boxer Protocol in 1901.
Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of Republic of China, one of the first republics in Asia.
Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong toasting together in 1945 following the end of World War II
Mao Zedong proclaiming the establishment of the PRC in 1949.
The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests was ended by a military-led massacre which brought condemnations and sanctions against the Chinese government from various foreign countries.
Satellite image of China from NASA WorldWind
Köppen-Geiger climate classification map for mainland China.
A giant panda, China's most famous endangered and endemic species, at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan
The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydroelectric dam in the world.
Earliest known written formula for gunpowder, from the Wujing Zongyao of 1044 CE
Huawei headquarters in Shenzhen. Huawei is the world's largest telecoms-equipment-maker and the second-largest manufacturer of smartphones in the world.
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, one of the first Chinese spaceports
Internet penetration rates in China in the context of East Asia and Southeast Asia, 1995–2012
The Duge Bridge is the highest bridge in the world.
The Beijing Daxing International Airport features the world's largest single-building airport terminal.
The Port of Shanghai's deep water harbor on Yangshan Island in the Hangzhou Bay is the world's busiest container port since 2010.
A 2009 population density map of the People's Republic of China and Taiwan. The eastern coastal provinces are much more densely populated than the western interior.
Ethnolinguistic map of China
A trilingual sign in Sibsongbanna, with Tai Lü language on the top
Map of the ten largest cities in China (2010)
Beijing's Peking University, one of the top-ranked universities in China
Chart showing the rise of China's Human Development Index from 1970 to 2010
Geographic distribution of religions in China. Chinese folk religion (including Confucianism, Taoism, and groups of Chinese Buddhism) Buddhism tout court Islam Ethnic minorities' indigenous religions Mongolian folk religion Northeast China folk religion influenced by Tungus and Manchu shamanism; widespread Shanrendao
Fenghuang County, an ancient town that harbors many architectural remains of Ming and Qing styles.
A Moon gate in a Chinese garden.
The stories in Journey to the West are common themes in Peking opera.
Map showing major regional cuisines of China
Go is an abstract strategy board game for two players, in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent and was invented in China more than 2,500 years ago.
Long March 2F launching Shenzhou spacecraft. China is one of the only three countries with independent human spaceflight capability.
The Tang dynasty at its greatest extent and Tang's protectorates
Lihaozhai High School in Jianshui, Yunnan. The sign is in Hani (Latin alphabet), Nisu (Yi script), and Chinese.
The Qing conquest of the Ming and expansion of the empire
China topographic map with East Asia countries

Their oracle bone script (from BCE) represents the oldest form of Chinese writing yet found and is a direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters.

Egyptian hieroglyphs, which have their origins as logograms

Logogram

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Written character that represents a word or morpheme.

Written character that represents a word or morpheme.

Egyptian hieroglyphs, which have their origins as logograms
Print excerpt from a 1436 primer on Chinese characters

Chinese characters (pronounced hanzi in Mandarin, kanji in Japanese, hanja in Korean and Hán tự in Vietnamese) are generally logograms, as are many hieroglyphic and cuneiform characters.

A map of the Western Han dynasty in 2 AD Principalities and centrally-administered commanderies Protectorate of the Western Regions (Tarim Basin)

Han dynasty

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Imperial dynasty of China , established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu.

Imperial dynasty of China , established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu.

A map of the Western Han dynasty in 2 AD Principalities and centrally-administered commanderies Protectorate of the Western Regions (Tarim Basin)
Thirteen direct-controlled commanderies including the capital region (Yellow) and ten semi-autonomous kingdoms of the early periods, 195 BC
Belt Buckle with nomadic-inspired zoomorphic design, manufactured in China for the Xiongnu. Mercury-gilded bronze (a Chinese technique). North China, 3rd-2nd century BC.
Map showing the expansion of Han dynasty in the 2nd century BC
The ruins of a Han-dynasty watchtower made of rammed earth at Dunhuang, Gansu province, the eastern edge of the Silk Road.
These rammed earth ruins of a granary in Hecang Fortress, located ~11 km (7 miles) northeast of the Western-Han-era Yumen Pass, were built during the Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD) and significantly rebuilt during the Western Jin (280–316 AD).
Situation of warlords and peasant forces at the beginning of Eastern Han dynasty
Eastern Han inscriptions on a lead ingot, using barbarous Greek alphabet in the style of the Kushans, excavated in Shaanxi, 1st–2nd century AD
Preserved arrow, Western Han
A late Eastern Han (25–220 CE) Chinese tomb mural showing lively scenes of a banquet (yanyin 宴飲), dance and music (wuyue 舞樂), acrobatics (baixi 百戲), and wrestling (xiangbu 相撲), from the Dahuting Tomb, on the southern bank of the Siuhe River in Zhengzhou, Henan province (just west of Xi County)
A mural from an Eastern Han tomb at Zhucun (朱村), Luoyang, Henan province; the two figures in the foreground are playing liubo, with the playing mat between them, and the liubo game board to the side of the mat.
Brick Relief with Acrobatic Performance, Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE)
Detail of a mural showing two women wearing Hanfu silk robes, from the Dahuting Tomb of the late Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 CE), located in Zhengzhou, Henan
Han period inscribed bamboo-slips of Sun Bin's Art of War, unearthed in Yinque Mountain, Linyi, Shandong.
A fragment of the Xiping Stone Classics; these stone-carved Five Classics installed during Emperor Ling's reign along the roadside of the Imperial University (right outside Luoyang) were made at the instigation of Cai Yong (132–192 CE), who feared the Classics housed in the imperial library were being interpolated by University Academicians.
A silk banner from Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan province. It was draped over the coffin of Lady Dai (d. 168 BCE), wife of the Marquess Li Cang (利蒼) (d. 186 BCE), chancellor for the Kingdom of Changsha.
A part of a Daoist manuscript, ink on silk, 2nd century BCE, Han Dynasty, unearthed from Mawangdui tomb 3rd, Changsha, Hunan Province.
An Eastern-Han bronze statuette of a mythical chimera (qilin), 1st century CE
A scene of historic paragons of filial piety conversing with one another, Chinese painted artwork on a lacquered basketwork box, excavated from an Eastern-Han tomb of what was the Chinese Lelang Commandery in Korean Peninsula.
A rubbing of a Han pictorial stone showing an ancestral worship hall (cítáng 祠堂)
Animalistic guardian spirits of day and night wearing Chinese robes, Han dynasty paintings on ceramic tile; Michael Loewe writes that the hybrid of man and beast in art and religious beliefs predated the Han and remained popular during the first half of Western Han and the Eastern Han.
The Gansu Flying Horse, depicted in full gallop, bronze sculpture, h 34.5 cm. Wuwei, Gansu, China, AD 25–220
A mural showing chariots and cavalry, from the Dahuting Tomb (Chinese: 打虎亭漢墓, Pinyin: Dahuting Han mu) of the late Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD), located in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China
Gold coins of the Eastern Han dynasty
A Han-dynasty iron ji (polearm) and iron dagger
A gilded bronze oil lamp in the shape of a kneeling female servant, dated 2nd century BC, found in the tomb of Dou Wan, wife of Liu Sheng, King of Zhongshan; its sliding shutter allows for adjustments in the direction and brightness in light while it also traps smoke within the body.
An array of bronze bells, Western Han dynasty
Ornamental belt buckle, decorated with Chinese mythical creatures. Chiseled and hammered gold, late Han period.
The physical exercise chart; a painting on silk depicting the practice of Qigong Taiji; unearthed in 1973 in Hunan Province, China, from the 2nd-century BC Western Han burial site of Mawangdui, Tomb Number 3.
A pair of stone-carved que (闕) located at the temple of Mount Song in Dengfeng. (Eastern Han dynasty.)
A pair of Han period stone-carved que (闕) located at Babaoshan, Beijing.
A stone-carved pillar-gate, or que (闕), 6 m (20 ft) in total height, located at the tomb of Gao Yi in Ya'an. (Eastern Han dynasty.){{sfnp|Liu|2002|p=55}}
An Eastern-Han vaulted tomb chamber at Luoyang made of small bricks
A Han-dynasty pottery model of two men operating a winnowing machine with a crank handle and a tilt hammer used to pound grain.
A modern replica of Zhang Heng's seismometer
An early Western Han dynasty silk map found in tomb 3 of Mawangdui, depicting the Kingdom of Changsha and Kingdom of Nanyue in southern China (note: the south direction is oriented at the top).
An Eastern Han dynasty pottery boat model with a steering rudder at the stern and anchor at the bow.

Modern China's majority ethnic group refers to themselves as the "Han people", the Sinitic language is known as "Han language", and the written Chinese is referred to as "Han characters".

The first batch of Simplified Characters introduced in 1935, later retracted in 1936, consisted of 324 characters.

Simplified Chinese characters

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The first batch of Simplified Characters introduced in 1935, later retracted in 1936, consisted of 324 characters.
The east square of Guangzhou railway station in 1991. Notice the prevalence of traditional Chinese characters as brand logos during that time, including Jianlibao (健力宝), Rejoice (飄柔) and 广东万家乐, only Head & Shoulders (海飞丝) printed in simplified. In Mainland China, it is legal to design brand logos in traditional characters, yet, by 2020, apart from Jianlibao, the other three change to simplified.
The slogan 战无不胜的毛泽东思想万岁! (Zhàn wúbù shèng de Máo Zédōng sīxiǎng wànsuì!; Long live the invincible Mao Zedong Thought!), in simplified script, on Xinhua Gate in Beijing.

Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters used in Mainland China and Singapore, as prescribed by the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters.

A 12th-century Song Dynasty redaction of the Shuōwén Jiězì.

Written Chinese

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A 12th-century Song Dynasty redaction of the Shuōwén Jiězì.
Vertical Chinese writing seen on a restaurant sign and bus stop in Hong Kong.
An ancient Chinese oracle bone.
Left: Bronze 方樽 fāngzūn ritual wine container dated about 1000 BC. The written inscription cast in bronze on the vessel commemorates a gift of cowrie shells in Zhou Dynasty society. Right: Bronze 方彝 fāngyí ritual container dated about 1000 BC. An inscription of some 180 Chinese characters appears twice on the vessel, commenting on state rituals that accompanied a court ceremony.
Tomb of Fu Hao, c. 1200 BC, containing some 200 bronze vessels with 109 inscriptions in oracle bone script of Fu Hao's name.

Written Chinese comprises Chinese characters used to represent the Chinese language.

Job announcement in a Filipino Chinese daily newspaper written in traditional Chinese characters

Traditional Chinese characters

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Job announcement in a Filipino Chinese daily newspaper written in traditional Chinese characters
The east square of Guangzhou railway station in 1991. Notice the prevalence of traditional Chinese characters as brand logos during that time, including Jianlibao (健力寶), Rejoice (飄柔) and 萬家樂; only Head & Shoulders (海飞丝) printed in simplified. In Mainland China, it is legal to design brand logos in traditional characters, yet by 2020, apart from Jianlibao, the other three have changed to simplified.
The character {{lang|zh|{{linktext|繁}}}} (Pinyin: {{transl|zh|fán}}) meaning "complex, complicated (Chinese characters)"
Countries and regions officially using Chinese characters currently or formerly as a writing system:Traditional Chinese used officially (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau) Simplified Chinese used officially but traditional form is also used in publishing (Singapore and Malaysia) Simplified Chinese used officially, traditional form in daily use is uncommon (China, Kokang and Wa State of Myanmar) Chinese characters used in parallel with other scripts in respective native languages (South Korea, Japan)Chinese characters were once used officially, but this is now obsolete (Mongolia, North Korea, Vietnam)

Traditional Chinese characters are one type of standard Chinese character sets of the contemporary written Chinese.

In the traditional Chinese character 媽 mā "mother". The left part is the radical 女 nǚ "female". The character is the semantic component of a phono-semantic compound (}, and the right part, 馬 mǎ "horse", is the phonetic component.

Radical (Chinese characters)

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In the traditional Chinese character 媽 mā "mother". The left part is the radical 女 nǚ "female". The character is the semantic component of a phono-semantic compound (}, and the right part, 馬 mǎ "horse", is the phonetic component.

A Chinese radical or indexing component is a graphical component of a Chinese character under which the character is traditionally listed in a Chinese dictionary.

A packet of Shin Ramyun, the Chinese character, meaning "spicy", is prominently reflected

Hanja

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A packet of Shin Ramyun, the Chinese character, meaning "spicy", is prominently reflected
The Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty, an annual record of the Joseon Dynasty throughout its entire history, was written in Classical Chinese
This Korean War propaganda leaflet created by the US Army as part of Operation Moolah uses Hangul–Hanja mixed script.
Yakja (약자, 略字) simplification of 無
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Hanja (Hanja:, ), alternatively known as Hancha, is the Korean name for a traditional writing system which consists of Chinese characters that has been incorporated and used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom.

East Asia

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Eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms.

Eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms.

Three sets of possible boundaries for the Central Asia region that overlap with conceptions of East Asia
The countries of East Asia also form the core of Northeast Asia, which itself is a broader region.
East Asia map of Köppen climate classification.
Tokyo is the capital of Japan and the largest city in the world, both in metropolitan population and economy.
Taipei is the capital, financial centre of Taiwan and anchors a major high-tech industrial area in Taiwan.
Seoul is the capital of South Korea, leading global technology hub.
Shanghai is the largest city in China.
Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China.
Osaka is the second largest metropolitan area in Japan.
Guangzhou is one of the most important cities in southern China. It has a history of over 2,200 years and was a major terminus of the maritime Silk Road and continues to serve as a major port and transportation hub today.
Nagoya is the third largest metropolitan area in Japan. Nagoya is famous as the location of Lexus headquarters.
Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan for eleven centuries.
Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia with a population of 1 million as of 2008.
Hong Kong is one of the global financial centres and is known as a cosmopolitan metropolis.
Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea, and is a metropolis on the Korean Peninsula.
Xi'an or Chang'an is the oldest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, having held the position under several of the most important dynasties. It has a significant cultural influence in East Asia.
UNSD geoscheme for Asia based on statistic convenience rather than implying any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories: North Asia Central Asia Western Asia South Asia East Asia Southeast Asia
alt=|With a population of .646 million,Taipei is the capital, financial centre of Taiwan and anchors a major high-tech industrial area in Taiwan.

Historically, societies in East Asia have fallen within the Chinese sphere of influence, and East Asian vocabulary and scripts are often derived from Classical Chinese and Chinese script.