Hey guys! Did you notice the new style? No music, no sound effects, (almost) no jokes. Do you like this style or do you prefer my older style with some music, sound effects and jokes? Also don't forget to check out Surfshark! This is a product I actually use and endorse because it's the lowest priced, high quality VPN on the market: surfshark.deals/ABCHINESE
One correction: When Cangjie created the characters, the night thereafter the demons wailed: because they could no longer cheat men! It was not man's arrogance, but their capacity not to be cheated which made them cry.
Jokes and sound is good, serious style narative also good, but a mix betweenis the best in my opinion. Is very simple: when you feel a paragraph is serious keep it that way, when you feel you should insert a joke, do it please, that means you felt it was the right time for that. I loved it when you inserted the " you dishonor our family" when you said the other video you didn't know about some coal simbols and meaning. That was a very good and funny joke, because was based also on a real way of perception of chinese people. So was a very inteligent and right spotted one. So I repeat myself: where you feel/want to insert a joke, by all means do it! When you feel is serious, leave it serious. Mix them as you see fit. Both in a single video or diferent videos diferent styles, depend on the subject
It just blows my mind how a 3+ thousand y.o. writing is still used in the modern world. And this's why I don't understand people who refuse to learn characters while learning chinese 'cause to me, characters are the most fiscinating part about chinese language
Just stumbled onto this channel for the first time. I'm interested in Chinese language, shufa, and culture because I study taijiquan. Looking forward to watching this video!
Nice video. As an ordinary Chinese person who hasn't specifically studied ancient texts, I can only recognize less than 20% of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC) characters. Those who have studied calligraphy have a much stronger ability to read and write Qin Dynasty characters because they repeatedly emulate the excellent calligraphy works of their Qin Dynasty ancestors. However, the ability to identify Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) characters has greatly improved. I estimate that an average non-illiterate person can recognize at least 50% or more. Chinese characters were fully standardized by the time of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). Modern Chinese people, as long as they are not illiterate, can read and write Tang Dynasty characters fluently-because, in reality, it is modern writing. Although the People's Republic of China introduced simplified Chinese characters after its establishment, leading to some ancient characters being forgotten, we can still read them. In fact, when visiting historical sites in Vietnam, South Korea, or Japan, there is no need for a tour guide. Chinese tourists can read inscriptions or plaques without any obstacles.
Im currently learning Japanese. Japanese uses Chinese characters for lots of words, because China already had a very advanced script when Japan realized they needed one. So they "borrowed". This is video exactly the explanation I was hoping to get.
The vast majority of languages borrowed scripts from others. Only a handful of languages use scripts that were invented specifically for that language. For example, the Latin script wasn't invented for English!
@@xuexizhongweneven better the latin script wasnt invented for latin but based on greek. And greek script wasnt invented for greek but based on phoenician and phoenician based on local middle eastern seal scripts :)
nihongo dewa, kanji to iu koto ga arimasu. ningen no naka de wa kanji ga sukijanai hito mo arimasu. hoka no hito wa kanji ga daisukidesu yo. itsumo omottemasu: kanji no kawari ni roumaji wo tsukaetara dou narimasu ka. Kou no you na koto
Your video was way more detailed and more interesting than an EdX Course i took. I can’t wait to check out your other videos on characters. Thanks so much for your work.
This was probably my favorite video of yours so far. I basically knew the information already, but it's cool to see it laid out in a presentation like this. I was also happy to hear you mention that people may have written characters on bamboo or other materials that have long since been destroyed. Maybe they were all destroyed in the book burnings of Qin Shi Huang! (Just joking, but... who knows? lol) Also, many of the oracle bones were destroyed (or eaten). And like you said, they were only discovered fairly recently, so who knows what else is waiting to be discovered? I've seen others talk as if Chinese characters are only as old as the examples of them that we know about today. But the truth is we have no idea how old Chinese characters are. Maybe the legend is true, and they really were initially invented by Cangjie at the time of the Yellow Emperor. We just don't know.
It’s just amazing that Chinese writing appears in its recognizable form so suddenly. Like… who made it?? How did they come up with the shapes?? And then standardize them?? It’s truly spectacular!
probably the same way English became standardized over time, people agreed on a certain way of writing and it became widespread after everyone started using it, that's probably the simplest explanation
After the unification of China by Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the standardization of writing was implemented, and the Clerical Script was promoted nationwide. This event is known as "書同文," which means using the same script for writing.
I agree. It amazes me that the Regular Form has had virtually no changes in the past 1500 years. Those literate in Chinese can literally understand the Kanji used in Japan TODAY despite them being imported over 1,000 years ago!
The name "大篆" comes from a compilation of characters by 太史籀 in the Western Zhou dynasty, called《大篆》. The exact contents of 《大篆》were lost, but we know that when 奏始皇 ordered another compilation of characters to unify writing, it was named 小篆 in contrast to 大篆. In modern usage, 大篆 basically comes to mean everything that came before 小箓, up to and including bronze scripts that bear some resemblence, as we're not entirely sure what 《大篆》depicted.
Awesome video! I began my Chinese learning journey this July and have been fascinated behind the history of each character. Its great to see such a breadth of history behind the Chinese writing system. Whilst it may be considered inefficient, its most certainly got the most style. Cheers ❤
Writing Chinese characters maybe inefficient, but typing is way better😂😂😂, and the pronunciations maybe changing but normally the meanings of characters don't change as time passes, that's why they can carry histories, people understand articles written by someone who lived thousands of years ago.
If the "grass" script is hard to read even by natives without practice, I'd say it's closer to _shorthand_ than to _cursive_ when compared to Latin-based scripts... I agree that the running script is closer to cursive.
Interesting content once again. It’s surprising how much the oracle bone examples look like what they represent. I wonder if they would have been easier to learn. I like your new video style too. I think your old style would still work better for less serious videos like app reviews, but this new style feels very appropriate for these historical research-based videos.
i absolutely love what your doing, your not just translating words, but culture and language grass and running script, just makes me want to say formal vs informal in many ways and this point, english is a broken language, in the sense that everything is so phonetic and disconnected from its origin words are verbatim, in english in part-icular that maybe a result of over education and over academia in the information age learning about other languages and how they are built, reveals alot about english as well this is all, long over due
This is how I understand why Chinese characters are called "漢字Hanzi"（kanji or hanja in Japanese or Korean）, because Chinese characters in the modern sense are actually originated from clerical script（隸書）, and “隸書” was defined as the official script in the Han（漢） Dynasty. So they were called 漢（Han）字（characters）=hanzi
Yeğ / Yüğ = upper, superior Yeğ-mek > Yemek (to eat)= to add on oneself, to include in one's essence, Yeğ-im> Yem= provender, fodder >Yemiş= fruit Yüğ-le-mek > yeğlemek = to keep on top of others, make it relatively superior, ~to prefer Yüğ-ka-yer-u > yukarı =(which side is on top) = Up Yüğ-ce > yüce = superior in level /sublime Yüğ-ce-al-mek > yücelmek = to achieve superiority in level Yüğ-sü-ek > yüksek = high Yüğ-sel > yüksel = exponential , superlative Yüğ-sü-al-mek> yükselmek = to rise to a high level, to ascend Yüğ-sük > yüzük =(ring)= jewelry worn on the finger top Yüğ-sü-en-mek > yüksünmek= to feel slighted / take offended Yüğ-ük > yük =(load)> taken on, carried over Yüğ-ün > yün =(wool)> the feathers that on sheep Yüğ-üt > yiğit =(valiant)> superior in character Yüğ-gen > yüğen /yeğen =(nephew)> which is kept superior, held in high esteem, valued, precious (yüen > yen 元) Yüğ-gen-cük > yüğençüğ >yinçi (inci) =(precious little thing)> pearl , 珍珠 Yüğengi >yengi> yeni =(new)> it's coming on top, coming after Yüğenge > yenge =(brother's wife)> who's coming after, added to the family later (new bride) Yüğ-üne /Yeğ-ine > yine/ gene =again /over and over > yeniden = anew /once more Yüğ-en-mek> yenmek = to overcome, to cope with, to subdue Yüğ-en-el-mek > yenilmek= to be overcome, to be subdued, to show weakness Yüğengil > yengil =remaining on top, light, weak Şan= Glory, splendor 單于 > Şan-Yüğ =Exalted glorious Yormak=to tire= to arrive over someone (too many). (too much) to go onto (Yörmek)> Örmek=(to operate on something), to weave on top , to wrap around (Yörümek)> Yürümek= to go over something, to wander around (yöre=precincts) (yörük=nomad) Yürümek= to walk (yürü=go on) Yülümek=to go by slipping over something Yalamak= to lick >~to take swiping/ by scraping on something off Yolmak= to pluck=to pull by snatching off, tear off (~flatten the top) Yılmak=to throw down from the one's own top (~get bored), to hit the ground from above (yıldırım=lightning…yıldız=star) Yurmak= to pull onto, cover over (yur-ut>yurt=tabernacle) (yur-gan>yorgan=quilt) Yırmak=to bring it on top of, to take it off (yırışmak>yarışmak= to race> to overcome each other) (Yır-et-mak)>Yırtmak= to tear= to get it inside-out or bottom to top (by pulling from both sides) (~tide over, get rid of it) Yarmak= to split, to tear apart= go vertically from top to bottom, separate by cutting off Yermek=to pull down ,pull to the ground Germek=to tense= to pull it in all directions > Sermek= to spread it in all directions Yıkmak= to demolish= overthrow , take down from top to bottom, turn upside down Yığmak= to stack= put on top of each other, dump on top of each other (yığlamak=shed tears over and over, cry over) Yağmak=get rained on, get spilled on / to pour down from above Yakmak= to burn out=purify by heating and removing matter , reduce its volume Yoğmak=make condensed=to tighten and purify, narrow by turning, get rid of volume (~get dead) Yoğurmak= to knead=tighten and thicken , reduce volume, bring to consistency (Yogurt= thickened milk) Yuğmak=to purify squeezing to clean (Yuğamak>yıkamak= to wash) Yiv = sharp, pointed (yivlemek= sharpen the tip) Yuvmak=to squeezing thin out, narrow (yuvka>yufka= thin dough) (yuvka>yuka=thin, shallow) (yuvuz>yavuz=thin, weak, delicate) Yuvarlamak=to round off=narrow by turning (yuva (smallest shelter)= nest) (yavru (smallest)= cub ) Yummak=to shut by squeezing, close tightly (Yumurmak=make it closes inward) (yumruk=fist) (yumurta= egg)
The Most convincing theory during my research is that While Buddhism introduced into China at Han dynasty, it is first time that Chinese people encounter a complete foreign language which bring the need to come up a reference of Chinese language during translation. 汉文、汉言、汉字 are all most obvious choice.
interesting and brilliant video; next time, would you introduce how we learn "九九乘法表" or "Multiplication table" to our western viewers? It must be interesting, it always fascinates me how a pronunciation difference could lead to such dramatic learning results.
OMG I've been waiting patiently just to watch a new video from your channel you can't imagine how I really enjoy watching your videos!! And no music is much better tbh However I love it when you make random jokes (not too many) on your videos, Just not too serious, nor too comical. Overall, It was an amazing video, keep it up❤ Sending love from Egypt
You Egyptians once had your own hieroglyphics, but unfortunately you were eventually assimilated by other peoples and have forgotten your own language and writing.
Bronze script doesn't come "after" Oracle bone script. They are two parallel system. Bronze script is usually more formal because they are supposed to last very long with the expensive bronze items. While oracle script, written on disposable bones, is casual and simplified.
Picture of the thing -> Alien ver. of the thing -> Simplified alien ver. of the thing -> Attempt to make it structured - > ???? (Frustrated squiggles?) -> Back to caligraphy ver. of the structured version -> Modern chinese characters
2:27 is a love to say: WROOONG! -- his "name" was not QinShiHuang, that would be like saying the "name" of the president of the US is "Mr. President", that is his title and not a name. his name was Ying Zheng, or with in the western world more common order of last names last: Zheng Ying. "Qin Shi Huang" literally just means "Qin's First Emperor"
@@freakmoister But that is his name, just not the name that he originally had. Its like getting a name change in modern times. Some other examples are Oda Nobunaga and Genghis Khan, who were originally called Oda Kichihōshi and Temüjin respectively. Also like Qin Shi Huang, Genghis Khan is also a title turned name, meaning something like "Universal Ruler." Not wrong, just another name that they went by.
@eyeofthasky Qin Shi Huang still counts as a name. He is historically called Qin Shi Huang by many scholars and historians of the past, be they Chinese or not. Plus he is still most commonly called Qin Shi Huang by modern Chinese people. This is basically the equivalent of a modern day name change, just that he was powerful and important enough that the name (his title) stuck around and is respected enough to call him that. This has happened historically with many other important people as well, as explained in my comment above. Its just that in modern times, a name change like this would not stick.
I think for a channel like this one, it's fine. But if it was a history channel, I would like him to be addressed differently during each phase of his life, for example, when in his youth, ruling Qin as king, and then ruling China as an Emperor.
Love this. Just beginning to understand how long seal script was influential ... and why simplified script is only one step in the journey of Chinese writing ....
Very nice overview of Chinese characters over time. The simplified characters of today are a challenge. Older script are more easily recognizable. Understand why this was done, but still miss the more traditional characters. Thank you enjoyed.
@@xuexizhongwen I believe Kiyoshi meant that simplified Chinese characters have strokes missing or "simplified too excessively" that it is difficult to see the continual revolution of a character. Some characters are combined into one like surnames for example leading to confusion. Lots of major Chinese languages like Cantonese, Hokchew, Taiwanese use unique characters simplified characters can not represent. It is like gaps are created everywhere that it is easier to understand older scripts refer to certain things and know why one character has part of this character combined with the other.
new research mentioned that we might have misunderstood Qin dynasty. it might not have been "ruthless tyrant" as we were told. it might only be a ruthless tyrant to the following dynasty as they were gonna replace Qin, and they need to make up some propaganda to justify their throne. but almost all the changed made by Qin get passed down and used by following dynasty ruler. they certainly approved everything Qin changed is good/better.
I wonder how many oracle bone characters were there originally. Considering modern Chinese characters are somewhere around 50K or more it's safe to say there maybe twice or thrice the characters we currently discovered.
Would you have any sources you recommend for further research in this topic? I'm looking into doing my dissertation on the history and influence of the Chinese language.
Actually, it is technically illegal with some exemptions (university students, companies doing international business, etc.) However, the law is not strictly implemented for 99.9% of individual VPN users. So it's kinda shady, but yeah the risk does exist.
Great and informative video as always! But could you find out which Chinese language variation is the closest to original ancient Chinese spoken language (that has/have survived up until today)? It’d be a very interesting topic for your channel and many people will want to see it!
This will be a difficult and more complex task. For original spoken language, much have been lost during evolution and hard to find official record. The typical ancient spoken Chinese had five tones, which transformed to four (Mandarin) nowadays. Some local dialects in Shaanxi/Gansu Province as well as some pronunciation of Cantonese can still find trace of the lost fifth tone. For most part of Northern China, people can roughly understand each other although they speak different dialects. For the Southern China, the dialects varies from one place to another. And in some remote areas people cannot understand each others' spoken language in places some 50km apart.
@@jackliu498 Right, the multiple barbarian invasions to China did a lot of things. Not to mention the “cULtuRaL ReVoLuTioN” which put the final nails to the coffin.
Blessing in discuise, sense Im learning Japanese, so I am curious about Kanji and how it evolved out of Chinese script. I am wondering what the advantages of pictographic chinese over something like a Latin Script that became Romaji elsewhere.
Why is it that western/English perspective of Qin Shi Huang is always biased towards a negative view. While the Chinese perspective on him (by indie creators) is more balanced. Acknowledging his efforts that forever changed china’s history(unified currency and a standard language)while also pointing out his extreme efforts to achieve his goals. Almost no historical Chinese figure is mentioned positively in English. And it wasn’t until I improved my chinese comprehension that I noticed the biases. (By comparing the two perspectives)
Because Chinese people are very proud of their culture so there’s some bias. It seems natural to me. This is why if you say anything remotely bad about Chinese history or culture, people will get mad at you online… I would know because I’ve done it. 😂😂😂 I didn’t read much on Qin Shi Huang, but the “Western” sources did paint him as a tyrant, although they do recognize that his standards unified China and was very influential for centuries to come. It’s just that we can’t overlook how many people he killed, how much culture he destroyed in order to maintain his power.
YES, i know traditional chi ese and "im so smart" 「我很博大精深」 lol (just a joke, we still use traditional in taiwan, hong kong and macau, and we always have a joke about love without a heart hehe)
The myth of origin of writing is very fascinating, it sounds exactly like the biblical Genesis account where God forbade eating the fruit which symbolizes maturity and intelligence knowledge, because man would become like God, and it was inevitable. Thus, these ancient myths describes the condition of modern man in misery due to its knowledge and cognition, maturity, which brings misery.
What do you mean “translated?” We’ve found 4000 or so oracle bone characters and we know the meaning to 1600. So the rest no one has figured out the meaning yet.
I’ve made many videos teaching Chinese language vividly and in a funny way. I hope you can recommend my videos to those who want to learn Chinese. I hope more people can learn Chinese to get comprehensive firsthand information about China and most likely seek more job opportunities.
there are lots of Oracle characters that hasn't been recognized, but lots of those characters could be the names of mountains, rivers, areas, tribes, gods and nations which didn't occur since Shang dynasty, thus impossible to recognize for good.
I´m to dumb to learn chinese... to memorize so much symbols... is there a dictionary for chinese? And what differentiate a verb or a pronoun or a adjective? Funny is how would a transgender pic his pronoums !
Clerical script onwards may have been attempts to simplify writing, but for the untrained western eye, it all still looks like what you normally see on muddy grounds around chicken houses, or in other words, pure scribble made by chicken paws! lol
Why do I see the Chinese character for horse every single day of my life? I learned one Chinese character when I was 8 and now it’s every day since I see it. Today it’s in the thumbnail of this video, yesterday it was on a can of water chestnuts.
