ConÂtrary to someÂwhat popÂuÂlar belief, ChiÂnese charÂacÂters aren’t just litÂtle picÂtures. In fact, most of them aren’t picÂtures at all. The very oldÂest, whose evoÂluÂtion can be traced back to the “oraÂcle bone” script of thirÂteenth cenÂtuÂry BC etched directÂly onto the remains of turÂtles and oxen, do bear traces of their picÂtoÂgraph ancesÂtors. But most ChiÂnese charÂacÂters, or hanzi, are logoÂgraphÂic, which means that each one repÂreÂsents a difÂferÂent morÂpheme, or disÂtinct unit of lanÂguage: a word, or a sinÂgle part of a word that has no indeÂpenÂdent meanÂing. Nobody knows for sure how many hanzi exist, but nearÂly 100,000 have been docÂuÂmentÂed so far.
Not that you need to learn all of them to attain litÂerÂaÂcy: for that, a mere 3,000 to 5,000 will do. While it’s techÂniÂcalÂly posÂsiÂble to memÂoÂrize that many charÂacÂters by rote, you’d do betÂter to begin by familÂiarÂizÂing yourÂself with their basic nature and strucÂture — and in so doing, you’ll natÂuÂralÂly learn more than a litÂtle about their long hisÂtoÂry.
The TED-Ed lesÂson at the top of the post proÂvides a brief but illuÂmiÂnatÂing overview of “how ChiÂnese charÂacÂters work,” using aniÂmaÂtion to show how ancient symÂbols for conÂcrete things like a perÂson, a tree, the sun, and water became verÂsaÂtile enough to be comÂbined into repÂreÂsenÂtaÂtions of everyÂthing else — includÂing abstract conÂcepts.
In the ManÂdarin BlueÂprint video just above, host Luke Neale goes deepÂer into the strucÂture of the hanzi in use today. Whether they be simÂpliÂfied verÂsions of mainÂland ChiÂna or the traÂdiÂtionÂal ones of TaiÂwan, Hong Kong, and elseÂwhere, they’re for the most part conÂstructÂed not out of whole cloth, he stressÂes, but from a set of existÂing comÂpoÂnents. That may make a prospecÂtive learnÂer feel slightÂly less dauntÂed, as may the fact that roughÂly 80 perÂcent of ChiÂnese charÂacÂters are “semanÂtic-phoÂnetÂic comÂpounds”: one comÂpoÂnent of the charÂacÂter proÂvides a clue to its meanÂing, and anothÂer a clue to its proÂnunÂciÂaÂtion. (Not that it necÂesÂsarÂiÂly makes deciÂpherÂing them an effortÂless task.)
In the disÂtant past, hanzi were also the only means of recordÂing othÂer Asian lanÂguages, like VietÂnamese and KoreÂan. Still today, they remain cenÂtral to the JapanÂese writÂing sysÂtem, but like any othÂer culÂturÂal form transÂplantÂed to Japan, they’ve hardÂly gone unalÂtered there: the NativLang video just above explains the transÂforÂmaÂtion they’ve underÂgone over milÂlenÂnia of interÂacÂtion with the JapanÂese lanÂguage. It wasÂn’t so very long ago that, even in their homeÂland, hanzi were threatÂened with the prospect of being scrapped in the dubiÂous name of modÂern effiÂcienÂcy. Now, with those aforeÂmenÂtioned almost-100,000 charÂacÂters incorÂpoÂratÂed into UniÂcode, makÂing them usable throughÂout our 21st-cenÂtuÂry digÂiÂtal uniÂverse, it seems they’ll stick around — even longer, perÂhaps, than the Latin alphaÂbet you’re readÂing right now.
RelatÂed conÂtent:
What Ancient ChiÂnese SoundÂed Like — and How We Know It: An AniÂmatÂed IntroÂducÂtion
The WritÂing SysÂtems of the World Explained, from the Latin AlphaÂbet to the AbugiÂdas of India
Based in Seoul, ColÂin Marshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities and the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles. FolÂlow him on the social netÂwork forÂmerÂly known as TwitÂter at @colinmarshall.
I would like to learn traÂdiÂtionÂal ChiÂnese charÂacÂters, where can I find a course that still teachÂes traÂdiÂtionÂal ChiÂnese charÂacÂters?
I would like to learn traÂdiÂtionÂal ChiÂnese charÂacÂters,