Chinese archaeologists claim that pottery utensils dating back
7,000 years ago which bear inscriptions of various symbols are
probably one of the origins of Chinese characters.
They made the conclusion on the basis of several years' study
into the symbols carved on over 600 pottery ware items unearthed
from the New Stone Age site in Shuangdun village, Xiaobengbu town
of Bengbu, a city in east China's Anhui
Province.
The symbols include rivers, animals and plants, and activities
such as hunting, fishing and arable farming, as well as symbols
recording events, said Han Xuhang, a research fellow with the Anhui
Provincial Archaeological Research Institute.
The pottery mainly includes bowls and cups, with all the symbols
carved on the bottom or on hidden parts of the pottery. "It is
obvious that these symbols were not used to decorate the pottery
utensils but had a special meaning and purpose," said Xu Dali, an
associate research fellow with the Bengbu City Museum.
Xu said the symbols are carved in pairs and also in groups,
which express comparatively complete meanings and show the
characteristics of sentences and paragraphs.
Similar symbols were also discovered in other places nearby,
which shows that these symbols were recognized and used in a
certain region, said Xu.
Many of the symbols are similar to the inscriptions on bones or
tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BC) and many are
still conserved in characters used by ethnic groups today, said
Xu.
Li Boqian, head of the ancient civilization research center of
Beijing University, said that the origin of characters has a long
process of development.
The period from 9,000 years to 4,000 years ago was the origin and
initial development period of Chinese characters, and the period
from 4,000 years ago to 221 BC was the time when characters
developed towards maturity, which was followed by a period of wide
use of characters after Qinshihuang, China's first emperor of the
Qin Dynasty (211-207 BC).
These notional symbols are an important link in the development
of Chinese characters and could be one of the origins of Chinese
characters, said Li.
The discovery of so many symbols at Shuangdun ruins is rarely
seen in the research into ancient civilizations and "it gives us
great hope of finding more important archaeological discoveries,"
said Li Xueqin, chairman of the China Pre-Qin Dynasty
Historiography Society.
The discovery not only provides important clues about the origin
of Chinese characters, but also an opportunity to review the
existing theory on the origin of Chinese characters, said Li, who
is also a professor with Qinghua University.
Covering 12,000 sq m, the Shuangdun ruins were first discovered
in 1985 and excavations were made on an area of 375 square meters
from 1986 to 1992. The ruins were regarded as the earliest New
Stone Age site in the area along the middle reaches of the Huaihe
River, the third largest river in China.
The Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys have been
regarded as the cradles of Chinese civilization. Discovery of the
Shuangdun ruins shows that the Huaihe River valley also has its own
independent cultural system and is one of the birthplaces of
Chinese civilization, Li said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2006)
