The Origins of Chinese Writing

Paola Demattè is Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology in the Theory and History of Art and Design Department at the Rhode Island School of Design.

• Table of content i-iii List of figures iv-xi 0. Introduction 1-160.1 Origins of Chinese writing: the scope of this research0.2 Theory0.3 The debate on the origins of Chinese writing: dynamics and timing0.4 Archaeology and Textual sources 0.5 Goals and limits0.6 Organization of the book0.7 A note on terminology0.8 On phonetic transcriptions.0.9 Translations Part I - Theories and philosophies of writing Chapter 1: The nature of Chinese writing 17-37 1.1 Logographs and ideographs 1.2 Monosyllabism and beyond 1.3 Reading Chinese characters 1.4 Structure of Chinese characters 1.5 Types of characters (orthography) 1.6 Polysemy, homographs and allographs 1.7 Languages, writing, and diglossia Chapter 2: Western and Chinese philosophers on language and writing 34-85 2.1 Philosophers on language and writing: the European tradition 2.2 Language and writing: Zhou philosophers and the Chinese tradition 2.3 Early etymological and philological enquiries: Erya and Shuowen jiezi 2.4 Traditional narratives on the origins of writing 2.5 The origins of Chinese writing according to the Shuowen jiezi 2.6 Fuxi and the trigrams of the Yijing 2.7 Shennong and rope knotting 2.8 Huangdi's minister Cangjie creates the first signs 2.9 Myth on the origins of writing and history Chapter 3: What is Writing? 86-126 3.1 Verba volant scripta manent 3.2 What is writing? Visual representation, metrology, language 3.3 Imagery and writing: overlappings 3.4 Rock art, pre-historic art: signs, scenes, and narratives 3.5 Early writing and numbers 3.6 Early writing and language recording 3.7 Writing's origins: evolution or invention? 3.8 Origins of Chinese writing: looking at the earliest signs Part II - The Neolithic Evidence Chapter 4: Early and Middle Neolithic Signs to the Fourth millennium BCE 127-170 4.1 The Neolithic scenario 4.2 The Paleolithic - Neolithic transition 4.3 The Early Neolithic (8000-5000 BCE): archaeology and signs 4.4 Fifth to Fourth Millennium BCE: Middle Neolithic Signs 4.5 Early symbols in the Yangzi River Valley: Hemudu and Songze 4.6 Shuangdun pictorial signs on pottery 4.7 Signs in the Middle Yangzi Three Gorges and adjacent areas: Daxi (Daixi) 4.8 The Middle Yellow and Wei River Valleys: Yangshao and its signs 4.8.1 Marks on pottery at Yangshao sites 4.8.2 Yangshao marks: previous interpretations 4.8.3 Yangshao signs: conclusions 4.9 Middle and Upper Yellow River valley painted pottery designs 4.10 Gansu and Qinghai area signs: Dadiwan, Majiayao, Banshan, Machang 4.11 The Liao River Valley: Hongshan tri-dimensional signs 4.11.1 Hongshan sites 4.11.2 Hongshan jades 4.12 Conclusions Chapter 5: The Third Millennium BCE: Late Neolithic Sign Systems 171-237 5.1 The Late Neolithic (3000-2300 BCE) and the Longshan Transition (2300-1900 BCE) 5.2 The Lower Yellow River Valley and Coastal Areas: Dawenkou 5.3.1 Dawenkou sites with graphs 5.3.2 Dawenkou graphs: structural analysis 5.3.3 Dawenkou signs: the archaeological evidence 5.5 The lower Yangzi River valley and delta area: Liangzhu 5.5.1 Inscribed Liangzhu jades: collections and provenance 5.3.2 Liangzhu jade graphs: structure, types and previous interpretations 5.5.3 Liangzhu graphs: meanings and functions 5.5.4 Liangzhu emblems and decorations: the double-face 5.5.5 Liangzhu pottery marks 5.5.6 Liangzhu signs: conclusions 5.6 The Jianghan - Dongting area: Qujialing and Shijiahe (c. 3200-2000 BCE) 5.6.1 Qujialing and Shijiahe graphs 5.6.2 Shijiahe graphs: analysis 5.7 The Middle and Lower Yellow River Valleys: Shandong Longshan and adjacent sites 5.7.1 Chengziyai 5.7.2 Some controversial <"Longshan> " material 5.7.3 Longshan era pot-marks beyond Shandong 5.8 The Fen River Valley: the city of Taosi 5.9 Conclusion: A Late Neolithic graphic community Part III - The Bronze Age Evidence Chapter 6: The Second Millennium BCE: Early and Middle Bronze Age Writing 238-322 6.1 Bridging the evidence: from Late Neolithic to Bronze Age signs 6.2 Bronze Age: the archaeological record 6.3 Sign making during Early Bronze Age: Erlitou 6.4 Writing in the Middle Bronze Age: Shang and beyond 6.4.1 Early to Late Shang period pottery graphs 6.4.2 Meaning and function of Bronze Age pottery graphs 6.5 Shang ritual bronzes and their inscriptions 6.5.1 Ritual bronzes: origin, function, decorations 6.5.2 The making of ritual bronzes and bronze inscriptions 6.5.3 Jinwen: emblem graphs and standard script 6.5.4 Early and Middle Shang bronze inscriptions 6.5.5 Late Shang bronze inscriptions 6.5.6 Taotie, kui, long and other bronze decorations 6.6 Shang inscriptions on shells and bones: oracle bones and beyond 6.6.1 Bone preparations and divination procedures 6.6.2 The practice of bone writing 6.6.3 Divinatory inscriptions 6.6.4 Non-divinatory bone texts: bureaucratic records and writing instruction 6.6.5 Shang sites with oracle bone inscriptions 6.7 Late Shang inscriptions on jade and stone 6.8 Conclusions Chapter 7: Characteristics of Shang Writing 323-356 7.1 Number and types of graphs 7.2 Structures: simple and compound graphs 7.3 Ancient phonology 7.4 Contractions and shorthand practices 7.5 Extensions of meaning, phonetic loans, and semanto-phonetic compounds 7.6 Script development and variant forms 7.7 Grammar and word classes 7.8 Numerals and numerical systems 7.9 Lexicon 7.10 Direction of script, orientation of characters, and calligraphy 7.11 Literacy during the Bronze Age 7.12 Conclusions Chapter 8: The origins of Chinese writing 357-384 8.1 The emergence of writing in China: the Neolithic 8.2 Late Neolithic interactions 8.3 Urbanism and sociopolitical complexity8.4 Transition into the Bronze Age: long distance trade, agriculture, and the calendar8.5 Writing in the Bronze Age: presence and absence 8.6 King Wuding, divination and the surge of Late Shang writing 8.7 Conclusions: the materiality of writing. Bibliography

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