Language/Multiple-languages/Culture/Introduction-to-Han-script

Hi, polyglots!

Every time you see Han characters, you may see them as random strokes and wonder how other people memorise them. Once you have payed attention for a while and learned about the basics of Han script, they will become crystal clear to you.

in progress

Evolution of Han script

There is an evolution: Egyptian → Proto-Sinaitic → Phoenician → … → most scripts used today. Han script has its own: oracle bone script [甲骨文], bronze script [金文] and other scripts → seal script [篆書] → clerical script [隸書] → regular script [楷書].

There are artistic scripts derived from the regular script:

• running script [行書] (a.k.a. semi-cursive script)
• grass script [草書] (a.k.a. cursive script)

There are also typefaces for printing:

• Song [宋體] / Ming [明體] (a.k.a. sans-serif)
• Imitation Song [仿宋體]
• Gothic [黑體] (a.k.a. sans)

Glyph forms of early scripts are highly diverse. After the unification of China by Qin dynasty, glyph forms other than the ones used in the State of Qin are abolished. In the modern time, character glyph forms are standarised differently in different sovereign states and dependent territories.

Simplifications of Han characters take place in different times. Systematic simplifications include the creation of the clerical script in the State of Qin and the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme in the People's Republic of China.

There is a website for searching characters in ancient scripts 汉字源.

script	image
oracle bone script [甲骨文]	https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Oracle_bone_script
bronze script [金文]	https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Bronze_script
seal script [篆書]	https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Seal_script
clerical script [隸書]	https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Clerical_script
regular script [楷書]	https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Regular_script
running script [行書]	https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Semi-cursive_script
grass script [草書]	https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_cursive_script

typeface	image
Song [宋體] / Ming [明體]	https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ming_(typefaces)
Imitation Song [仿宋體]
Gothic [黑體]

Creation and use of Han characters

It is mentioned that there are six categories of characters [六書] in the Rites of Zhōu [《周禮》] without explanation. Nowadays, those six categories of characters are thought to be the following:

creation of characters

category of characters	explanation of the category	example	meaning of the example	explanation of the example
pictographs [象形字]	a character where concrete objects are depicted in pictorial form	日 月 山 水	sun moon mountain water	shape of a sun shape of a crescent moon shape of a mountain shape of a water stream
indicatives [指事字]	a character where abstract ideas are depicted in pictorial form	上 下 本 末	above below root, origin tip, end	a line above another line a line below another line root of a tree apex of a tree
compound ideographs [會意字]	a character consisting of two or more semantic components	武 信 采 比	martial message, trust pick compare	a dagger-axe and a foot a person with a speech a palm over a bush two persons side by side
phono-semantic compounds [形聲字]	a character consisting of a phonetic and a semantic components	時 場 銀 動	season, time place silver move	a sun and the reading of the word “office, temple” a soil and the reading of the word “sunlight” a metal and the reading of the word “blunt” the reading of the word “heavy” and a force

use of characters

category of characters	explanation of the category	example	meaning of the example	explanation of the example
derivative cognates [轉注字]	characters with different readings and meanings derived from the same original character; disputed as it is unnecessary to exist	考 / 老	examine / old	an old person leaning on a cane
loangraphs [假借字]	a character borrows another character's shape; the character being borrowed changes its form	北 其 自 某	north that self so-and-so	replacing the original word “back”, which is shown as two persons back to back; the replaced character becomes 背 replacing the original word “basket”, which is shown as a basket; the replaced character becomes 箕 replacing the original word “nose”, which is shown as a nose; the replaced character becomes 鼻 replacing the original word “plum”, which is shown as a plum; the replaced character becomes 楳 (obsolete form of 梅)

Strokes of a character

The elementary components of characters are strokes [筆畫]. Basic strokes [基本筆畫] are

stroke	modern name of stroke	writing direction
㇐	horizontal [橫]
㇑	vertical [豎]
㇒	throw [撇]
㇏	press [捺]
㇔	dot [點]
㇀	raise [提]
㇚	hook [鉤]
㇁	curve [彎]

additional

stroke	modern name of stroke	writing direction
㇄	slant [曲]
㇣	circle [圈]

A compound stroke [複合筆畫] is a stroke that is combined by multiple basic strokes. They can be defined differently by different approaches. For example:

The character “永” has all eight traditional basic strokes, so it is often used to practice calligraphy.

Components of a character

A character is made of one or more components. Those components are made of one or more strokes.

Those components are written one by one from left to right, from top to bottom, in order to make the character look good.

The components used for indexing in a dictionary are called radicals [部首]. In some cases, a character may be assigned multiple radicals. Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters [《說文解字》] and Kāngxī Dictionary [《康熙字典》] published in c. 100 and 1716 are two of the most authoritative dictionaries, where 540 and 214 radicals are listed.

The compositions of a characters are the followings:

composition	common radicals
⿰	(many)
⿱	(many)
⿲	(many)
⿳	(many)
⿴	囗
⿵	冂、几、門、鬥
⿶	凵
⿷	匚、匸
⿼
⿸	厂、尸、手、广、戶、疒、羊、老
⿹	乙、勹、弋、气
⿺	大、尢、廴、⽑、⽖、⾛、瓜、辵、鬼、麥、鼠
⿽	水
⿻	木
⿾
⿿
〾
㇯

There are also ways to pick up a type in printing quickly. After the popularisation of computers, shape-based input methods emerged. Those components of such input methods are called roots [字根].

shape-based input method	time	layout
四角	1925
三角	1971
倉頡	1976
大易	1988
嘸蝦米	1990
行列	1992
縱橫	1993

Readings of a character

In pre-modern times, readings of characters by the officials are called the elegant pronunciations [雅音]. They were de facto standard pronunciations.

For Chinese language, each character has phonetically and semantically identical readings; for non-Chinese languages, each character has two types of reading: one being phonetically similar to the Chinese reading [音讀], the other being the semantically corresponding native word's reading [訓讀].

The ancient method to note readings is called reverse cutting [反切], where each character's reading is denoted by a character's initial consonant and the rest of another character's syllable. For example, the reading of 東 is denoted by the initial consonant of 德 and the rest of 紅:

Calligraphy

There are tens of thousands of characters in Han script, and even more glyphs, in Han script. The calligraphy of it is also developed.

There is a website for searching characters in calligraphy 集古作书法字典.

Set phrases

Set phrases [成語] are a kind of idiomatic expressions in Han script. They are mostly as short as four characters. There are

• Chinese set phrases on Let's Travel To China
• Japanese set phrases on IMABI
• Korean set phrases on KoreanLII.

For languages other than Chinese, it is also possible to build set phrases in the same manner.

Example of popularised English idioms in Chinese set phrases:

• tip of the iceberg 冰山一角 : iceberg + a + corner
• kill two birds with one stone 一石二鳥 : one + stone + two + birds

The following English idioms in set phrases are original by the author and are not popularised yet.

English idiom	English idiom in set phrase	similar Chinese set phrase
bring home the bacon	攜臘返歸 : carry + cured meat + return home	養家活口 : support + family + make a living for + members
burn the midnight oil	夜半焚油 : midnight + burn + oil	焚膏繼晷 : burn + grease + continue + sunlight shadow
don't cry over spilt milk	毋啼覆乳 : don't + cry over + spilt + milk	覆水難收 : spilt + water + hard to + collect
like a fish out of water	如魚出水 : like + fish + out of + water	如坐針氈 : like + sitting on + needle + mat
have seen better days	既見良辰 : have already + seen + good + days	江河日下 : rivers + day by day + go down
jump on the bandwagon	縱上花車 : jump + onto + bandwagon	隨波逐流 : follow + waves + chase + flows
let the cat out of the bag	放貓出囊 : let + cat + out of + bag	走漏風聲 : leak + wind + sound
miss the boat	參差擺渡 : miss + ferry boat	失之交臂 : miss + it + arm touching arm
not my cup of tea	非我杯茗 : not + my + cup of + tea	不合我意 : not + fit + my + mind
once in a blue moon	藍月一現 : blue + moon + once + shows up	杳如黃鶴 : rare + as + yellow + crane
piece of cake	菓子一切 : cake + a + cut	小菜一碟 : small + dish + a + plate
pull someone's leg	扯腿相嬉 : pull + leg + towards the other + amuse	嬉皮笑脸 : playful + skin + smiling + face
raining cats and dogs	天降貓狗 : from the sky + drop + cats + dogs	傾盆大雨 : turned + basin + huge + rain
save for a rainy day	蓄備雨日 : save + prepare for + rainy + day	未雨綢繆 : not yet + rain + bound (the window) tightly
show one's true colours	顯露真色 : show + true + colours	原形畢露 : original + form + all + exposed
sink or swim	或沒或泅 : either + sink + or + swim	背水一戰 : back-facing-water (formation) + a + battle
the last straw	終末一稈 : the last + one + straw	積羽沉舟 : accumulating + feathers + sinks + boat