Description
This study explores the evidence for Chinese writing in the late Neolithic (3500-2000 BCE) and early Bronze Age (2000-1250 BCE) periods. Chinese writing is often said to have begun with little incubation during the late Shang period (c. 1300-1045 BCE) in the middle-lower Yellow River Valley area as a sudden independent invention. This explanation runs counter to evidence from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Mesoamerica that shows that independent developments of writing generally undergo a protracted evolution. It also ignores archaeological data from the Chinese Neolithic and early Bronze Age that reveals the existence of signs comparable to Shang characters.Paola Demattè takes this data into account to address the issue of what writing is, and when, why, and how it develops, by employing a theory of writing that does not privilege language as a prime mover. It focuses instead on visual systems of communication as well as ideological and socio-economic developments as key elements that promote the eventual development of writing. To understand the processes that led to primary developments of writing, The Origins of Chinese Writing draws from the latest research on the early writing systems of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Mesoamerica, and other forms of protowriting. The result is a novel and inclusive theoretical approach to the archaeological evidence, grammatological data, and textual sources, an approach that demonstrates that Chinese writing emerged out of a long process that began in the Late Neolithic and continued during the Early Bronze Age.
Table of Contents
Table of content i-iiiList of figures iv-xi0. 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 sources0.5 Goals and limits0.6 Organization of the book0.7 A note on terminology0.8 On phonetic transcriptions.0.9 TranslationsPart I - Theories and philosophies of writingChapter 1: The nature of Chinese writing 17-371.1 Logographs and ideographs1.2 Monosyllabism and beyond1.3 Reading Chinese characters1.4 Structure of Chinese characters1.5 Types of characters (orthography)1.6 Polysemy, homographs and allographs1.7 Languages, writing, and diglossiaChapter 2: Western and Chinese philosophers on language and writing 34-852.1 Philosophers on language and writing: the European tradition2.2 Language and writing: Zhou philosophers and the Chinese tradition2.3 Early etymological and philological enquiries: Erya and Shuowen jiezi2.4 Traditional narratives on the origins of writing2.5 The origins of Chinese writing according to the Shuowen jiezi2.6 Fuxi and the trigrams of the Yijing2.7 Shennong and rope knotting2.8 Huangdi's minister Cangjie creates the first signs2.9 Myth on the origins of writing and historyChapter 3: What is Writing? 86-1263.1 Verba volant scripta manent3.2 What is writing? Visual representation, metrology, language3.3 Imagery and writing: overlappings3.4 Rock art, pre-historic art: signs, scenes, and narratives3.5 Early writing and numbers3.6 Early writing and language recording3.7 Writing's origins: evolution or invention?3.8 Origins of Chinese writing: looking at the earliest signsPart II - The Neolithic EvidenceChapter 4: Early and Middle Neolithic Signs to the Fourth millennium BCE 127-1704.1 The Neolithic scenario4.2 The Paleolithic - Neolithic transition4.3 The Early Neolithic (8000-5000 BCE): archaeology and signs4.4 Fifth to Fourth Millennium BCE: Middle Neolithic Signs4.5 Early symbols in the Yangzi River Valley: Hemudu and Songze4.6 Shuangdun pictorial signs on pottery4.7 Signs in the Middle Yangzi Three Gorges and adjacent areas: Daxi (Daixi)4.8 The Middle Yellow and Wei River Valleys: Yangshao and its signs4.8.1 Marks on pottery at Yangshao sites4.8.2 Yangshao marks: previous interpretations4.8.3 Yangshao signs: conclusions4.9 Middle and Upper Yellow River valley painted pottery designs4.10 Gansu and Qinghai area signs: Dadiwan, Majiayao, Banshan, Machang4.11 The Liao River Valley: Hongshan tri-dimensional signs4.11.1 Hongshan sites4.11.2 Hongshan jades4.12 ConclusionsChapter 5: The Third Millennium BCE: Late Neolithic Sign Systems 171-2375.1 The Late Neolithic (3000-2300 BCE) and the Longshan Transition (2300-1900 BCE)5.2 The Lower Yellow River Valley and Coastal Areas: Dawenkou5.3.1 Dawenkou sites with graphs5.3.2 Dawenkou graphs: structural analysis5.3.3 Dawenkou signs: the archaeological evidence5.5 The lower Yangzi River valley and delta area: Liangzhu5.5.1 Inscribed Liangzhu jades: collections and provenance5.3.2 Liangzhu jade graphs: structure, types and previous interpretations5.5.3 Liangzhu graphs: meanings and functions5.5.4 Liangzhu emblems and decorations: the double-face5.5.5 Liangzhu pottery marks5.5.6 Liangzhu signs: conclusions5.6 The Jianghan - Dongting area: Qujialing and Shijiahe (c. 3200-2000 BCE)5.6.1 Qujialing and Shijiahe graphs5.6.2 Shijiahe graphs: analysis5.7 The Middle and Lower Yellow River Valleys: Shandong Longshan and adjacent sites5.7.1 Chengziyai5.7.2 Some controversial "Longshan" material5.7.3 Longshan era pot-marks beyond Shandong5.8 The Fen River Valley: the city of Taosi5.9 Conclusion: A Late Neolithic graphic communityPart III - The Bronze Age EvidenceChapter 6: The Second Millennium BCE: Early and Middle Bronze Age Writing 238-3226.1 Bridging the evidence: from Late Neolithic to Bronze Age signs6.2 Bronze Age: the archaeological record6.3 Sign making during Early Bronze Age: Erlitou6.4 Writing in the Middle Bronze Age: Shang and beyond6.4.1 Early to Late Shang period pottery graphs6.4.2 Meaning and function of Bronze Age pottery graphs6.5 Shang ritual bronzes and their inscriptions6.5.1 Ritual bronzes: origin, function, decorations6.5.2 The making of ritual bronzes and bronze inscriptions6.5.3 Jinwen: emblem graphs and standard script6.5.4 Early and Middle Shang bronze inscriptions6.5.5 Late Shang bronze inscriptions6.5.6 Taotie, kui, long and other bronze decorations6.6 Shang inscriptions on shells and bones: oracle bones and beyond6.6.1 Bone preparations and divination procedures6.6.2 The practice of bone writing6.6.3 Divinatory inscriptions6.6.4 Non-divinatory bone texts: bureaucratic records and writing instruction6.6.5 Shang sites with oracle bone inscriptions6.7 Late Shang inscriptions on jade and stone6.8 ConclusionsChapter 7: Characteristics of Shang Writing 323-3567.1 Number and types of graphs7.2 Structures: simple and compound graphs7.3 Ancient phonology7.4 Contractions and shorthand practices7.5 Extensions of meaning, phonetic loans, and semanto-phonetic compounds7.6 Script development and variant forms7.7 Grammar and word classes7.8 Numerals and numerical systems7.9 Lexicon7.10 Direction of script, orientation of characters, and calligraphy7.11 Literacy during the Bronze Age7.12 ConclusionsChapter 8: The origins of Chinese writing 357-3848.1 The emergence of writing in China: the Neolithic8.2 Late Neolithic interactions8.3 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 absence8.6 King Wuding, divination and the surge of Late Shang writing8.7 Conclusions: the materiality of writing.Bibliography
