MKTD
Minggu Kebudayaan Tionghua Dayasari
汉字的起源与变迁
THE ORIGIN AND EVOLVEMENT OF CHINESE CHARACTERS
汉字，为世界上独有的一种指示会意文字体系，也是世界上唯一仍被广泛使用并高度发展的语素文字。
Chinese characters, also called Hanzi are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. Chinese characters, Hanzi are among the most widely adopted writing systems in the world by the number of users.
汉字的起源说
THE MYTHS OF ORIGIN OF CHINESE CHARACTERS
汉字的变迁
EVOLVEMENT OF CHINESE CHARACTERS
汉字，从最早期的甲骨文 发展至今日所用的现代汉字（简化字体和繁体字体），已历经过长久改进及演变。
Chinese characters from the earliest Chinese hieroglyphs to today’s simple characters have undergone through a very long process of development.
甲骨文
Oracle bone script
中国最早期的汉字 Earliest Characters in China
甲骨文主要指殷墟甲骨文，是中国商代后期（公元前1711 -公元前1066年）王室用于占卜记事而刻（或写）在龟甲和兽骨上的文字。
至今发现有大约15万片甲骨，4500多个单字。从甲骨文已识别的约1500个单字来看，它已具备了“象形、会意、形声、指事、转注、假借”的造字方法，展现了中国文字的独特魅力。
Oracle bone script is the inscription on animal bones and tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty (1711–1066 BC).
Now 150,000 pieces of animal bones and tortoise shells have been unearthed, including more than 4,500 distinctive characters. As the oracle bone script had the strong features of pictograph and ideograph, about 1500 characters could still be recognized by people, although in an early stage of development.
金文
Bronze script
古代汉字 Ancient Chinese Characters
金文是指铸刻青铜器上的文字，也叫钟鼎文，始于殷商时期。
中国在夏代就已进入青铜时代，铜的冶炼和铜器的制造十分发达。铜器上所记内容大多是颂扬祖先及王侯们的功绩，同时也记录重大历史事件。
The characters casted in bronze ware are also called 金文 or 钟鼎文 in Chinese (Pinyin: jīnwén or zhōngdĭngwén, respectively) with “wén” meaning “inscription”. Bronze script started in the Shang Dynasty.
In the “Age of Bronze Ware” of China during the period of Xia Dynasty, bronze ware was casted as a container, and most often as the sacrificial vessels to inscribe great events such as sacrifice, battle results, trade of slaves.
大篆
Large seal script
古代汉字 Ancient Chinese Characters
大篆，是西周晚期开始使用的汉字字体，相传为周宣王的史官籀作《史籀篇》时发明。广义的大篆指小篆之前的文字，包括金文（或称“钟鼎文”）与籀文，而当代汉字学家推算秦朝应尚有甲骨文，所以现在也包括其中。大篆的发展结果产生了两个特点：一是线条化，二是规范化，字形结构趋向整齐，奠定了方块字的基础。
The large seal script (Chinese: 大篆, Pinyin: dàzhuàn) is a traditional reference to all types of Chinese writing systems from before the Qin dynasty (i.e. before 221 BCE) and is now popularly understood to refer narrowly to the writing of the Western and early Eastern Zhou dynasties (i.e. 1046–403 BCE), and more broadly to also include the oracle bone script (c.1250–1000 BCE). It was more regular and symmetrical writing system.
小篆
Lesser or small seal script
古代汉字 Ancient Chinese Characters
小篆，又称秦篆。秦丞相李斯被称为小篆的鼻祖。秦始皇统一六国之后，有感于各国文字的不一，实行“书同文”的政策，试图统一篆文的书写规范。
Small Seal Script (Chinese: 小篆, xiǎozhuàn), also known as Lesser Seal Script and Qin Script (秦篆, Qínzhuàn). It was standardized and promulgated as a national standard by Li Si, prime minister under the First Emperor of Qin. After the Qin conquest of the six other major warring states of Zhou China, different local styles of characters which caused the diversity was deemed undesirable. Hence, Qin's small seal characters became the standard for all regions within the empire.
近代汉字演变过程
MODERN WRITING PERIOD
隶书
Clerical Script
隶书为秦书八体之一，是汉字中常见的一种庄重的字体风格，书写效果略微宽扁，横画长而直画短，呈长方形状，讲究“蚕头雁尾”、“一波三折”。隶书基本是由篆书演化来的，汉字从小篆到隶书的演变过程称为“隶变”。
Clerical script tends to be square to wide, and often has a pronounced, wavelike flaring of isolated major strokes, especially a dominant rightward or downward diagonal stroke. Clerical script is popularly but mistakenly thought to have developed from the small seal script. The process of change between small seal script and clerical script is referred to as the Libian
楷书
Regular Script
楷书，亦称今隶、真书、正楷、楷体或正书，是汉字书法中常见的一种手写字体风格。相传由汉章帝时王次仲以汉隶作楷法，是隶书的变体，其字形较为平直正方，去除隶书笔划尾部的挑法及蚕头燕尾的笔法，不写成扁形，结构不合“六书”原则。1─2厘米的为小楷（小字），5厘米以上的为大楷（大字），之间的为中楷。
Regular script is the newest of the Chinese script styles (appearing by the Cao Wei dynasty c. 200 AD and maturing stylistically around the 7th century). It is the most common style in modern writings and third most common in publications. Regular script characters with width (or length) larger than 5 cm (2 in) is usually considered larger regular script, or dakai (大楷), and those smaller than 2 cm (0.8 in) usually small regular script, or xiaokai (小楷). Those in between are usually called medium regular script, or zhongkai (中楷).
草书
Cursive script
草书（别称：藁书）是汉字书法中的一种手写字体风格，因字迹潦草而得名。它出现较早，从汉代初期，书写隶书时有时才“草率”地书写而形成的，也称为“章草”，是一种隶书草书。
Cursive script functions primarily as a kind of shorthand script or calligraphic style. Cursive script originated in China during the Han dynasty First, an early form of cursive developed as a cursory way to write the popular and not-yet-mature clerical script.
行书
Running Script
行书，是介于楷书、草书之间的一种字体，是为了弥补楷书的书写速度太慢和草书的难于辨认而产生的。实质上它是楷书的草化或草书的楷化。
Running Script, also called Semi-cursive script is a semi-cursive style of writing Chinese characters. Because it is not as abbreviated as cursive script, most people who can read regular script can read semi-cursive.