Writing shows nation's united character

Exhibition sheds light on the importance of the written word in forging an identity, Wang Kaihao reports in Chengdu.

Every time people write down a Chinese character, or hanzi, it may bear a cultural gene that has been inherited for millennia.

Throughout Chinese history, the country witnessed lasting unity ensuring prosperity, but it also endured dark years being torn apart by wars and social turmoil. However, thanks to the uniform and continuous writing system, a shared identity has survived and boomed.

China in Light of Hanzi: The Splendor of Chinese Civilization in Writing, a highlighted exhibition, raised its curtain earlier this month in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, to unroll an epic, perhaps silent in its physical form but powerful in its nature.

About 220 cultural relics on loan from 40 institutions nationwide were brought together for the three-month display at the Chengdu Museum.

"Words condense the aspirations of generations," Wei Min, curator of the exhibition, says. "And classics preserve thoughts over time. The form and structure of hanzi and the instruments and media of writing have continuously changed.

"However, it has always embodied the philosophical thoughts, ethical values, and aesthetic tastes of the Chinese people, reflecting a nation's way of thinking and attitude toward life," she adds.

The well-known oracle bone inscriptions, carved on turtle shells and ox scapulae, among other things, are the earliest evidence of a fully developed writing system that has evolved into the Chinese characters used today. Dating back 3,300 years to the late period of the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th-11th century BC), most such bones were excavated from areas surrounding the Yinxu Ruins in present-day Anyang, Henan province.

An oracle bone on display at the exhibition recorded a divination during Shang king Wuding's reign. The king foretold a heavy rain was coming, which he explained as an inauspicious omen. Thanks to what was written on the bone, this small moment of the distant past remains vivid. It also provides a key reference for modern people to understand the origins of Chinese civilization.

However, such a mature writing system apparently means there must have been earlier prototypes, as Wei points out. Carved marks may shed light upon people's imagination.