100 Chinese Characters

Among more than 1,000 human scripts existing today, Chinese characters are the only one that has been continuously used, witnessing the whole history of the Chinese civilization from its very beginning. Chinese calligraphy includes the oracle bone script, the bronze script, the seal script, the clerical script, the regular script, which is commonly used nowadays, the cursive script, and the semi-cursive script, used mostly for handwriting. Evolution of such scripts reflects the development of Chinese history and society. Chinese characters also represent how the Chinese nation thinks, her values and customs.

Boasting a pictographic beauty, Chinese characters are not only a kind of linguistic signs for record and communication, but also the unique one in the world that can be enjoyed as artistic works. Originating from hieroglyphs and imitation of the nature, each Chinese character provides us with a picture.

This Getting to Know China Appreciation of 100 Chinese Characters, by means of the four functions of listening, viewing, reading and writing, provides the pronunciations of 100 Chinese characters, and explains their evolution with annotations and poems in which they are used, plus relevant sections including encyclopedia, music and class. We hope this “book” will offer you a glimpse of both the beauty of Chinese characters and the Chinese culture.

人类至今尚存的上千种语言文字中，汉字是唯一没有中断使用的文字，见证和记录了中华文明从诞生一直发展至今的整个过程。从甲骨文、金文、篆书、隶书、楷书、草书、行书，乃至今天普遍使用的楷书, 千年演变历程中的每一次演变、进化无不是中国历史和社会发展的反映。中华民族所特有的思维方式、价值观念、风俗习惯等都被熔铸在汉字里流传至今。
汉字是文字中的艺术品。汉字字形具有图形美，它不仅是一种记录和传播信息的语言符号，也是世界各民族文字中唯一可作艺术品的文字。汉字源于“象形”，起源于对自然物象的摹写，每个汉字就是一幅图画。
这“本”《汉字书》通过听、看、读、写四个功能展现了100个汉字的读音、演变、注释、诗词。此外，应用中还包含了百科、音乐、课堂等与汉字相关的内容。期待《汉字书》能为您了解汉字语言之美和领略中国文化的魅力打开一扇窗。