Chinese characters

Chinese characters are <a href="/facts/Logograph/wWYAITGc">logographs</a> used <a href="/facts/Written_Chinese/F3QbQvtk">to write the Chinese languages</a> and others from regions historically influenced by <a href="/facts/Chinese_culture/tetHMHsK">Chinese culture</a>. Of the four independently invented <a href="/facts/Writing_system/ABG251A0">writing systems</a> accepted by scholars, they represent the only one that has remained in continuous use. Over a documented history spanning more than three millennia, the function, style, and means of writing characters have changed greatly. Unlike letters in alphabets that reflect the sounds of speech, Chinese characters generally represent <a href="/facts/Morpheme/4JNcPMHs">morphemes</a>, the units of meaning in a language. Writing all of the frequently used vocabulary in a language requires roughly 2000–3000 characters; as of 2024, nearly 100000 have been identified and included in <a href="/facts/The_Unicode_Standard/DDu3MfPV">The Unicode Standard</a>. Characters are created according to several principles, where aspects of shape and pronunciation may be used to indicate the character's meaning.
The first attested characters are <a href="/facts/Oracle_bone_inscriptions/xj9TSlNq">oracle bone inscriptions</a> made during the 13th century BCE in what is now <a href="/facts/Anyang/FhtaKTSD">Anyang</a>, Henan, as part of divinations conducted by the <a href="/facts/Shang_dynasty/6JYKH4wP">Shang dynasty</a> royal house. Character forms were originally <a href="/facts/Ideograph/7NvclbIG">ideographic</a> or <a href="/facts/Pictograph/6HmoV1u6">pictographic</a> in style, but evolved as writing spread across China. Numerous attempts have been made to reform the script, including the promotion of <a href="/facts/Small_seal_script/Ktv6xbYK">small seal script</a> by the <a href="/facts/Qin_dynasty/TeBU8Nh3">Qin dynasty</a> (221–206 BCE). <a href="/facts/Clerical_script/Cxddv58R">Clerical script</a>, which had matured by the early <a href="/facts/Han_dynasty/hanfxS9D">Han dynasty</a> (202 BCE – 220 CE), abstracted the forms of characters—obscuring their pictographic origins in favour of making them easier to write. Following the Han, <a href="/facts/Regular_script/bBmwjJmQ">regular script</a> emerged as the result of cursive influence on clerical script, and has been the primary style used for characters since. Informed by a long tradition of <a href="/facts/Lexicography/3btFWjIx">lexicography</a>, states using Chinese characters have standardized their forms—broadly, <a href="/facts/Simplified_characters/UcAD6xXs">simplified characters</a> are used to write Chinese in <a href="/facts/Mainland_China/HFXJcUky">mainland China</a>, <a href="/facts/Singapore/CQDkhUvD">Singapore</a>, and <a href="/facts/Malaysia/8zbUMzCP">Malaysia</a>, while <a href="/facts/Traditional_characters/bBFLkuz7">traditional characters</a> are used in <a href="/facts/Taiwan/VcJoUD8w">Taiwan</a>, <a href="/facts/Hong_Kong/4nAf3mqQ">Hong Kong</a>, and <a href="/facts/Macau/KEm5w6xH">Macau</a>.
Where the use of characters spread beyond China, they were initially used to write <a href="/facts/Literary_Chinese/gjCoUEo4">Literary Chinese</a>; they were then often adapted to write local languages spoken throughout the <a href="/facts/Sinosphere/WY2269Xy">Sinosphere</a>. In <a href="/facts/Japanese_language/EEv485a5">Japanese</a>, <a href="/facts/Korean_language/dmNnRxAA">Korean</a>, and <a href="/facts/Vietnamese_language/J3Pbx58C">Vietnamese</a>, Chinese characters are known as <a href="/facts/Kanji/E1IN7hVL">kanji</a>, <a href="/facts/Hanja/cvLdbcxX">hanja</a>, and <a href="/facts/Ch%25E1%25BB%25AF_H%25C3%25A1n/1aRhRRQU">chữ Hán</a> respectively. Writing traditions also emerged for some of the other <a href="/facts/Languages_of_China/lFG0qNrd">languages of China</a>, like the <a href="/facts/Sawndip/kGRzqWmT">sawndip</a> script used to write the <a href="/facts/Zhuang_languages/2whxArhX">Zhuang languages</a> of <a href="/facts/Guangxi/1BIHzs3q">Guangxi</a>. Each of these written vernaculars used existing characters to write the language's native vocabulary, as well as the <a href="/facts/Sino-Xenic_vocabularies/kcJD1kv5">loanwords it borrowed from Chinese</a>. In addition, each invented characters for local use. In written Korean and Vietnamese, Chinese characters have largely been replaced with alphabets—leaving Japanese as the only major non-Chinese language still written using them, alongside the other elements of the <a href="/facts/Japanese_writing_system/0Jt6VooH">Japanese writing system</a>.
At the most basic level, characters are composed of <a href="/facts/Chinese_character_strokes/J7MkRUqg">strokes</a> that are written in a fixed order. Historically, methods of writing characters have included inscribing stone, bone, or bronze; brushing ink onto silk, bamboo, or paper; and printing with <a href="/facts/Woodblock_printing/7DX03pTa">woodblocks</a> or <a href="/facts/Moveable_type/EscMKqoy">moveable type</a>. Technologies invented since the 19th century to facilitate the use of characters include <a href="/facts/Telegraph_code/kGSxdqV1">telegraph codes</a> and <a href="/facts/Typewriter/CHE43FWP">typewriters</a>, as well as <a href="/facts/Input_method/HoB832tg">input methods</a> and <a href="/facts/Text_encodings/ShJHIMoA">text encodings</a> on computers.

Chinese characters open-in-new

Chinese characters