History+of+Chinese+Writing

The History of Chinese Writing and Calligraphy 

Chinese writing history is very obscure in the dates of which it started and the forms of the writing changed. The earliest known form of Chinese writing dates back to the Shang Dynasty, and even then the writing was already highly developed. This concludes that the Chinese began writing before this, maybe even 5000 years before the artifacts in the Stone Age. These writing, found in 11th - 17th century B.C., were on animal skins and bones and turtle shells. These ancient Chinese civilizations had not yet found the luxury of writing on paper or parchment.

Most believe that Chinese writing came about throughout a process of the Chinese writing in pictographic and ideographic characters. These pictures and symbols then evolved into more intricate symbols and later, formed the Chinese writing systems. It took about 2,600 years to perfect the Chinese writing system.

Then, starting in the Han dynasty, calligraphy became known as an art throughout Chinese culture. The calligraphy didn't fully develop until the Jin dynasty, where it started to evolve even more into a system of writing. Great calligraphers began to emerge during this age. The writing didn't fully become accepted and taken seriously until the Tang dynasty. After the Tang dynasty, calligraphy took a recession, where calligraphers were forced into hiding to do their art.

Eventually both calligraphy and Chinese writing became fully developed and took a turn for the better in Chinese society. Calligraphy work is mostly discontinued, and the art stored in important museums, both Chinese writing is still used today.

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