Living Symbols

Download or read book China written by Cecilia Lindqvist and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2009-04-27 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The origins of Chinese ideographs were not known until 1899, when a scholar went to an apothecary for some medicine made of “dragon bone.” To his surprise, the bone, which had not yet been ground into powder, contained a number of carved inscriptions. Thus began the exploration of the 3000-year-old sources of the written characters still used in China today. In this unparalleled and deeply researched book, Cecilia Lindqvist tells the story of these characters and shows how their shapes and concepts have permeated all of Chinese thought, architecture, art, and culture.