In a sense, Chinese is a very old language, and its earliest characters date back nearly four thousand years ago. During their long history of development, Chinese characters have evolved into many different script forms, such as the Seal script, Clerical script, Regular script and Running script. Chinese calligraphers usually render their Chinese characters in ways that exaggerate the form to yield artistic beauty, such as those in stone inscriptions seen in tourist resorts. Chinese calligraphy is a subject of artistic study. As your interest in Chinese character system increases in the days to come, we will introduce in due time the different schools of Chinese calligraphy, and how to appreciate the artistic beauty of Chinese calligraphy.
The traditional Chinese culture, both extensive and profound, starts far back and runs a long, long course. More than 2,000 years ago, there emerged in China Confucianism represented by Confucius and Mencius, Taoism represented by Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi, and many other theories and doctrines that figured prominently in the history of Chinese thought, all being covered by the famous term” the masters’ hundred schools.” The traditional Chinese culture presents many precious ideas and qualities, which are essentially populist and democratic. For example, they lay stress on the importance of kindness and love in human relations, on the interest of the community, on seeking harmony without uniformity and on the idea that the world is for all. Especially, patriotism as embodied in the saying ”Everybody is responsible for the rise or fall of the country”; the populist ideas that “people are the foundation of the country” and that “people are the more important than the monarch”; the code of conduct of “Treat others as you want to be treated”.And the traditional virtues taught from generation to generation:endurance and hard working diligence and frugality in household management,and respecting teachers and valuing education.All of which have played a great role in binding and regulating the family,the country and the society.
Ever since the publication of A Dream of Red Mansions some 200 years ago, hundreds of millions of people have read its Chinese original or its translations in various languages. Of these innumerable people, how many have read the novel by starting with a perusal of the critics' articles and allowing themselves to be led by the nose by the critics as to how to read the novel? Next to none. All literary works, especially a monumental one like A Dream of Red Mansions, are extremely rich in content and involve diverse social strata-to such an extent that they virtually resemble a mountain of treasure or a labyrinth. And the readers are even more complicated, differing from each other in family background. They will each appreciate a certain aspect of the novel according to their own individuality. They may feel inspired and enlightened, and hence love it, or they may feel hurt, and hence loathe it. In short, the reactions vary.