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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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 Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 3:02 pm Post subject: Chinese writing '8,000 years old' |
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Last Updated: Friday, 18 May 2007, 13:19 GMT 14:19 UK
Chinese writing '8,000 years old'
Chinese archaeologists studying ancient rock carvings say they have evidence that modern Chinese script is thousands of years older than previously thought.
State media say researchers identified more than 2,000 pictorial symbols dating back 8,000 years, on cliff faces in the north-west of the country.
They say many of these symbols bear a strong resemblance to later forms of ancient Chinese characters.
Scholars had thought Chinese symbols came into use about 4,500 years ago.
The Damaidi carvings, first discovered in the 1980s, cover 15 sq km (5.8 square miles) and feature more than 8,000 individual figures including the sun, moon, stars, gods and scenes of hunting or grazing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6669569.stm |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 8:07 am Post subject: |
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The education presses in Seoul and Tokyo are already rolling out the next edition of their middle school history textbooks to correct the error that their cultures are in fact just been discovered to be 8000 years old.
God forbid they would ever acknowledge any cultural debt to China. |
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Guri Guy
Joined: 07 Sep 2003
Location: Bamboo Island
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| Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 7:55 am Post subject: |
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I believe Japan doesn't have a problem admitting "cultural debt" to China. They still use Chinese characters for example.
Koreans are starting to make wild claims like Confuscious being Korean, that they invented Chinese characters or that they created traditional Chinese medicine. They seem to have a problem with admitting the fact that the Chinese have had an enormous cultural influence on Korea. In fact South Korea is phasing out the use of Chinese characters to suck up to North Korea. It's sad really to foget where you came from. Don't forget your roots. |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 8:14 am Post subject: |
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| Guri Guy wrote: |
| In fact South Korea is phasing out the use of Chinese characters to suck up to North Korea. It's sad really to foget where you came from. Don't forget your roots. |
No they're not, they're phasing them back in.
Link
85% of hanja test-takers now are in elementary too, and hanja was brought back into the 수능 test in 2004:
http://www.hani.co.kr/section-005000000/2003/09/005000000200309181910282.html |
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thebum
Joined: 09 Jan 2005
Location: North Korea
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| Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 8:53 am Post subject: |
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| yeah, all the young kids i know are studying hanja a lot |
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Hater Depot
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 11:22 am Post subject: |
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| Yup, I had several kids last year skip class to take their hanja tests. I also foraged up some textbooks and posters tossed out by families whose kids had finished the basic levels. |
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Guri Guy
Joined: 07 Sep 2003
Location: Bamboo Island
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| Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks Mithridates. I am actually glad to hear that. I thought it was a big mistake to phase out Hanja. Good for Korea. ^^ |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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Funny thing is how you guys take what Chinese scholars say without even the tiniest pinch of salt. Like its all true. Totally forgetting that scholarship in China is state run, and all "findings" have a purpose: to push the Chinese political agenda, be it Taiwan related, Northeastern project related, or whatever.
Chinese writing....maybe the most backwards writing system in use today. Even if it is 8000 years old, doesnt make it anything but backwards. The fact that you have to MEMORIZE thousands of characters says it all. |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 8:32 pm Post subject: |
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jinju:
That was an especially uninformed response by you. Perhaps Big Bird needs to cook you some nice homemade soup or take you for a spin in her stroller. A little fresh air might do you some good.
Guri Guy wrote:
| Quote: |
| I believe Japan doesn't have a problem admitting "cultural debt" to China. They still use Chinese characters for example. |
Uh, using something and acknowledging in full its cultural origins are too different matters.
To listen to Japanese, you'd swear they invented tea ceremonies too. |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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I dont see why. yes, Chinese writing is old. Wooopdy dooooo. When you cant write new words in the language, theres a problem. When you have to memorize thousands of characters, theres a problem. So, what is Coca Cola in Chinse writing? In any NORMAL language when you read coca cola it comes out coca cola. What is it in Chinese? I remember reading an article where it was something stuipid like red dream or something because they had to scour the alphabet to come up with something? Let's face it, Chinese writing is totally unsuited to today's world. So yes, it is a backwards writing system. Then again, my total dislike for China and what it stands for may be coloring my views:
Communism
brutal oppression of Tibet
threatening of Taiwan
support of North Korea
support of little african Hitlers carying out genocide (as long as they have oil for China to buy)
cultural/historical thievery
yes, I dispise China. I hate what that country stands for so maybe my views on Chinese writing are biased
I doubt it though. |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 3:27 am Post subject: |
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jinju wrote:
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| yes, I dispise China. I hate what that country stands for so maybe my views on Chinese writing are biased |
I see, so you're making a blanket indictment of this most ancient culture on the basis of 50 years of Communist government rule which, despite it's glaring shortcomings, has moderated in recent years and is progressing.
That's rich.  |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 3:54 am Post subject: |
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| jinju wrote: |
yes, I dispise China. I hate what that country stands for so maybe my views on Chinese writing are biased
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Jinju,
I think you should say you hate what the "government of China" stands for. Not even 150 years ago it was a very different place.. The CCP is a crime against humanity in and of itself. No argument there. But the people would not have chosen that.. It was forced on them after a civil war.
China will change. The CCP will not be able to maintain control forever. My experience with the Singaporean, Taiwanese, American, Canadian, French and Australian Chinese is that they are a stand-up people who are natural traders, respectful of others and generally quite nice to be around. |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 5:12 am Post subject: |
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| stevemcgarrett wrote: |
jinju wrote:
| Quote: |
| yes, I dispise China. I hate what that country stands for so maybe my views on Chinese writing are biased |
I see, so you're making a blanket indictment of this most ancient culture on the basis of 50 years of Communist government rule which, despite it's glaring shortcomings, has moderated in recent years and is progressing.
That's rich. |
Im not making an indictment of ancient culture. Quite frankly, China's ancient culture is a non-factor to me.
Im making an indictment of today's China. The modern day crime against humanity.
However in the context of this thread I am making an indictment of Chinese writing: an outdated, obsolete and useless writing system. Invented thousands years ago in the age of horses and bows and arrows, it is quaint (to be generous) in the modern age of supercomputers, space flight and genetics. Wow its 8000 years old! You cant even write "Gene Therapy" in it without some serious stretch of the imagination. I wonder what the Higgs Boson is in Chinese writing.
I am quite able to seperate today's vile PRC from its ancient past. The thing you should know, its ancient past does nothing for me. Because let's be frank, the modern day phlegm spitting, line cutting, just-removed-from-life-as-an-indentured-peasant Chinese citizen doesnt reflect any of that Great And Glorious Ancient Past. |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 5:38 am Post subject: |
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| jinju wrote: |
| However in the context of this thread I am making an indictment of Chinese writing: an outdated, obsolete and useless writing system. Invented thousands years ago in the age of horses and bows and arrows, it is quaint (to be generous) in the modern age of supercomputers, space flight and genetics. Wow its 8000 years old! You cant even write "Gene Therapy" in it without some serious stretch of the imagination. I wonder what the Higgs Boson is in Chinese writing. |
Depends on the term:
The word pseudocyesis in Chinese is 假怀孕 (false pregnancy), and in Japanese it's 想像妊娠 (imagined pregnancy). I'd have no problem recognizing either one, but for the English term I'd have to check a dictionary. English is a little too proud of its Graeco-Latin roots for a language where nobody studies Greek or Latin anymore.
Let's also not forget other more obvious examples such as where the word person is two strokes: 人, where in English it's seven or eight. |
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