Calligraphy Lecture Corner

Lecture I

The Origin of Characters

Calligraphy is a graphic art which uses characters as a means of expression. With this in mind, I would first like to touch upon the origin of characters. It is impossible to date when characters first made their appearance in China, however, judging from artifacts taken from archaeological sites, scientific tests have proven that they existed at least 3,500 years ago. It can therefore be implied that characters got their start before then. Kanji, Chinese characters, are complexly different from their Western phonetic counterparts in that they combine the elements of shape, sound, and meaning. The picture element of kanji, which give the characters their meaning, have made them complex. Because of this characters have been justifiably called pictographs. It would, however, be more natural to think of characters having their origin in numerals. Characters arose out of mankind's need for them and,though the economy may have been limited at the time,and there may have not been a currency, trade was occuring. It would have been difficult to draw a picture of fifty sheep and, considering an age when writing was done on bones,and wood, it is likely that characters got their start as numerals and simple instructions. The perfect solution would be to write down a number and the characteristic of what was being traded. In any event, it would be logical to think of pictographs and instructional characters as being developed at the same time. Once our ancestors noticed that language could be symbolized, many characters were created through the combining of symbols. These have come to be called pictographs and ideographs. If you are interested in this research I recommend Setsumonkaiji by Kyoshin.