Page:China- Its State and Prospects.djvu/176

152 The invention is ascribed to Tsang-këĕ, who lived in the reign of Hwang-te, about 4500 years ago. This is, of course, an extravagant assumption. Still, from the simple and primitive nature of their words and characters, we may infer that their origin was extremely ancient. It is evident, that writing was used by the Chinese long before the time of Wăn-wang and Woo-wang, B.C. 1120, from a number of odes composed by those monarchs, and arranged by Confucius; besides which, several instances occur, in the previous history, of written messages having been sent, and events recorded, which could not have been done without a written medium. They assert that the first suggestion of arbitrary signs was derived from the tracing of birds' tracts in the snow, and the observation of the marks on the back of a tortoise.

Their characters are divided into six classes; first, pictorial, or those which bear some resemblance to the object; such as sun, moon, mountain, river, field, house, boat, tortoise, fish, horse, sheep, swallow, bird, &c., which are really representations of the things referred to; second, metaphorical, or those which derive a meaning from something else; thus the character for "handle" signifies also "authority;" that for "raw hides" means, likewise, "to strip;" while that for "heart" signifies also "mind," &c.; third, indicative, or those which indicate the sense by the formation of the character; as a man above-ground signifies "above," and one underneath, "below;" fourth, constructive, or those which derive their signification from the component parts of the character; as the symbol for "fire," and that for "surround," mean together "to roast;" and the symbol for "metal," with that for "distinguish," mean,