China: Empire of Living Symbols

by Cecilia Lindqvist

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.

Genres: China, Nonfiction, Language, History, Asia, Reference, Swedish Literature

426 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 1989

About the author

Cecilia Lindqvist - Chinese name: Lin Xili 林西莉 - is a Swedish Sinologist. She is a professor and author of several books on China.

Reviews

[Jerome Baladad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lindqvist's book, as translated by Joan Tate, is a superb learning book on Chinese characters. After having read it, I was reminded by a remark of a friend, who is Filipino Chinese, who snobbishly told me, "being able to write those characters would not actually mean much -- and that it's more important to be able to speak the language (he spoke Fookien, and I learned in subsequent talks that he really had to struggle learning to draw Chinese characters, as he was also studying Mandarin)." He was in a way, after some thinking, discouraging me, as doing so may gradually allow me to gain more access to a powerful language like that of Chinese, that's used by easily over a billion people. I was actually dumbfounded by his remark, as I was then studying Chinese character writing. I thought he would be excited hearing me talk about Chinese characters. I soon learned that there's an inherent pathway in the acquisition of wisdom and magical tools, so to speak, when you learn to draw these characters. Lindqvist's book again made me seriously consider reviewing again my lessons on Chinese characters.

Reading this book will open up windows to allow you to listen to anecdotes, watch in your mind cultural events, and begin to understand traditions that are specially true to an ancient culture as that of China. Lindqvist took extra pains in making the researches to back up her contentions on certain characters that have yet to be explained clearly how they come to be in our time. She also shared her other sources that she used to explain the characters included in the book. She studied the language at a time when the Cultural Revolution was still ongoing in the China. Having studied to learn to write at least 300 characters myself, I have been impressed by the wealth of information Lindqvist shared in her book. Reading it has made me better appreciate and understand the characters, and help me make much more sense out of them. Actually, when one is able to draw the characters, one also gets an access to reading those characters found in other languages that share the basics with the Chinese language, including Nihongo, and Korean. As students have learned before, the meanings behind the characters are basically conceptual, and they will help you understand what the characters would like to illuminate to you. Though, of course, you may not actually be able to read them correctly (which is another thing altogether), the characters will give you derived and affiliated meanings, as that is how our brain processes images we see around us. Lindqvist's work has definitely made the hardship of a student in understanding Chinese characters a lot lighter to carry, specially if you've been only used to certain ways of Western forms of writing.

[Karen Chung · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally happened upon an abridged Chinese translation of this book in a local mainland Chinese bookstore, then decided to try and track down an English version of it – it was originally written in Swedish. Happily I was able to get the book through Amazon. It was a very welcome new work for me to tackle since I'd just read a number of books on the etymology of Chinese characters. I approached it like a textbook, reading just a bit every day, so I could better absorb the content.

I've been studying Chinese for well over 40 years and living in Taiwan for more than 30, but there was lots of basic information about China and Chinese that was new and often surprising to me – better late than never.

I highly recommend this book to any English reader with a serious interest in the origin of Chinese characters. Eight out of five stars.

[AC · Rating 5 out of 5]

really fascinating... This book shows the pictorial development of characters so as to teach their meaning.... the author is a scholar with the heart of a poet...

[Karenina (Nina Ruthström) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inte visste väl jag att jag var så intresserad av kinesisk kultur! Förtjänsten är förstås Cecilia Lindqvists (1932-2021) – en av Sveriges bästa Kina-kännare. I Tecknens rike delar hon på ett lättsamt och inspirerande sätt med sig av sin gedigna kunskap om kultur och konst ur ett historiskt perspektiv och kopplar det till kinesiska skrivtecken. Det är helt underbart att få grotta ner sig i fysiska och praktiska spörsmål som berör kinesisk natur, djur, fordon, tyg, bambu, hus, böcker, instrument mat med mera och slippa politik, krig och makthavare för en stund. Det är först i slutet som det handlar om teori och abstrakta begrepp.

”Vi håller hund och katt. Kineserna håller guldfiskar och fåglar. Och alldeles som vi går ut med våra hundar så går de ut med dina fåglar. I gryningen medan morgondimman långsamt viker, samlas äldre män i parker och promenader längs gatorna och hänger upp sina fågelburar i träden.”

Vad jag lärde mig? Oj, det är mycket. Men följande fastnade jag extra för:

-Kinesiska är det äldsta av alla nu levande språk.
-Befolkning heter människomunnar.
-”Har du ätit” och ”vad du har blivit fet”, är vanliga hälsningsfraser och den skrattande Buddhan är från Kina. Det anses ändå som här ”fult” att vara fet.
-Tecknet hashtag betyder brunn.
-1989 bodde 40 miljoner människor i grottor i Kina.
-I traditionella kinesiska böcker löper textraderna lodrätt uppifrån och ner, från höger och äldre kartor är orienterade åt söder.
-Sköldpaddan uppfattades av forntidens kineser som en kvinnlig varelse och symboliserade barnuppfostran och universum.
-Det är ganska mycket som skiljer mellan Kinesisk och Svensk kultur men en sak är de rörande överens om: patriarkala normer.
-Smurfarnas hus är inte ett verk av fantasin utan de kallas rundhus och beboddes av kineser i yngre stenåldern.

”I kinesiska intellektuellas förhållande till naturen ingick en god portion mystik. Med vad de sökte var inte förening med Gud eller något annat högre väsen utan gemenskap med allt levande. […] Människan var inte naturens herre, hon ingick på samma villkor som allt annat i himmelen och på jorden i Den stora enheten och den dominerandes av kosmiska krafter, som man kallade Yin och Yang. De förutsatte varandra som natt och dag, som vinter och sommar, som liv och död. De var aspekter av samma verklighet och upprätthöll i dynamisk jämvikt harmonin i universum. Allt förändrades, omvandlades och återkom i nya konstellationer i evigt flöde. Ingenting var konstant utom denna ständiga, långsamma förändring.”

Jag har ingen aning om hur relevant boken är så här 33 år senare, men jag finner i vilket fall stort nöje i läsningen. Jag rekommenderar tecknens rike.

Utmaningen #augustprisprojektet – som jag påbörjade förra året tillsammans med Mösstanten och Kicki att läsa alla böcker som vunnit Augustpriset i kategorin skönlitteratur – är genomförd. Jag har nu läst alla 32 böcker som utgivits mellan 1989 och 2021. Hur många har du läst?

2021 – Eufori av Elin Cullhed
2020 – Samlade verk av Lydia Sandgren
2019 – Osebol av Marit Kapla
2018 – Aednan av Linnea Axelsson
2017 – De kommer att drunkna i sina mödrars tårar av Johannes Anyuru
2016 – De polyglotta älskarna av Lina Wolff
2015 – Allt jag inte minns av Jonas Hassen Khemiri
2014 – Liv till varje pris av Kristina Sandberg
2013 – Egenmäktigt förfarande – en roman om kärlek av Lena Andersson
2012 – Ett kort uppehåll på vägen från Auschwitz av Göran Rosenberg
2011 – Korparna av Tomas Bannerhed
2010 – Spill. En damroman av Sigrid Combüchen
2009 – De fattiga i Lodz av Steve Sem-Sandberg
2008 – Ett annat liv av Per Olov Enquist
2007 – Stundande natten av Carl-Henning Wijkmark
2006 – Svinalängorna av Susanna Alakoski
2005 – Den amerikanska flickan av Monika Fagerholm
2004 – Gregorius av Bengt Ohlsson
2003 – Skraplotter av Kerstin Ekman
2002 – Den vidunderliga kärlekens historia av Carl Johan Vallgren
2001 – Underdog av Torbjörn Flygt
2000 – Populärmusik från Vittula av Mikael Niemi
1999 – Livläkarens besök av Per Olov Enquist
1998 – Berömda män som varit i Sunne av Göran Tunström
1997 – Aprilhäxan av Majgull Axelsson
1996 – Sorgegondolen av Tomas Tranströmer
1995 – Hummelhonung av Torgny Lindgren
1994 – Synden av Björn Ranelid
1993 – Händelser vid vatten av Kerstin Ekman
1992 – Medan tiden tänker på annat av Niklas Rådström
1991 – Livets ax av Sven Delblanc
1990 – De sotarna! De sotarna! av Lars Ahlin
1989 – Tecknens rike av Cecilia Lindqvist

Bäst av de 16 böcker jag läst och recenserat här på Karenina var Spill. En damroman av Sigrid Combüchen, Ett kort uppehåll av Göran Rosenberg, Skraplotter av Kerstin Ekman och Stundande natten av Carl-Henning Wijkmark.

[Zhang Tao · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I can find on Chinese language and characters, strangely written by not a Chinese, but Cecilia, the Swedish Sinologist.

The best part of China or Chinese culture is the language, which is so much more than just a mean to communicate with each other. Instead, many characters carry "meanings" and they also evolve from time to time. Having lived in China for many years, the author did a wonderful job bringing those beautiful and artistic languages (as well as its culture and context) to a much wider audience; highly recommend for anyone want to understand more about Chinese language and culture.

[Ocean G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent dive into the development and progression of Chinese characters, from the oracle bones, through the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the modern day (the author doesn't seem to like simplified characters all that much, and I sympathize). I've read a couple books on the origins of Chinese characters, and this is definitely the one I will be recommending from now on.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is nothing short of amazing. I can recommend it not only for people interested in learning in Mandarin, but for anyone who’s either interested in language/linguistics in general, the history of China or early human life and civilization. A fascinating read on every page.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Chinese civilisation is all inside these mysterious looking Chinese characters. This book really gets me to understand why specific characters are written in certain ways and to appreciate the greatness of ancient Chinese wisdom.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

very informative. considering the pace of research about origin of Chinese letter, this book still works really well as an introductory material.

[Foxears · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really holds up even though it is not new.

I have been studying Chinese since 2008 and still this book about the history of China with the thread of going through the creation and development of the characters is really eyeopening and helpful.

The methodically discussion around each group of characters is both interesting and easy to understand. That Lindqvist has made this material acessible to people is a real gift!

It took me almost 7 years to get through this book, but I read a chapter here and there, and when I was reading I was always learning something new. I had no rush to get through it, and focused on the new information I had learned.

I read the book in its original language, Swedish. And I know I have seen it among many of my friends' houses growing up. I would recommend all of them to borrow this book from their parents, it is a gem!

Would recommend to any westerners interested in Chinese history and the creation of the characters. No need for prior knowledge about China or the language. This book is a great resource!

[隻眼簽到 · Rating 4 out of 5]

記得我在研究「單」這個字的時候，設想過獵人鋪在地上的陷阱；小時候抓伯勞鳥的「鳥仔踏」；很久以前在電視看到過絆野獸的「飛石索」等。還因為想到了單字中的「田」字形，象徵物體的旋轉而有種靈光一現的快感。我覺得這種天馬行空式的想像，跟作者的研究方法有些相像。但作者除了想像之外，更有札實的學術功底。例如講「鼓」這個字時。作者聯繫了豐、禮、彭、中等字，更附了不下十張考古文物及民俗場景的圖片。其中涉及對中國文化方方面面的了解，甚至很多東西都是我看不下去的。例如他在講與房子相關字的時候，竟然還參考了《營造式法》，研究古代屋頂的結構原理，眼界涉及了新石器時代到北京四合院、古代宮庭，甚至鄉下房子等。真是比一般中國人還中國人。這種論述方式，跟其他的字書都不相同，親切許多。

但即便如此，我還是有些話不吐不快。我認為，了解漢字結構及其意義多半僅具聯想的樂趣，其實用性是不能高估的。在繁、簡體的爭論中，堅持使用繁體者多半會說，繁體才能體現源流，展露字義。話說的沒錯。但我們可以做個調查，看有多少人真的對漢字的結構有涉獵，並有興趣去了解它的來龍去脈？就我認識一批國、高中中文教師的經驗，我可以有把握的說，很少。很少人真的對漢字的結構和演變的來龍去脈有興趣及涉獵。知道它有這個好處是一回事，但要下手去研究又是另一回事。就像小孩子對一項新奇玩具有興趣，並不代表它會去窮盡所有玩法，了解它的製造流程。用這點去堅持繁體字的正統固然合理，但在我看來，講這種話的人，捫心自問，多半要自覺慚愧。

進一步說，漢字中最能體現源流和字義的，無非是象形字。但象形字在漢字中的比例卻還不到百分之一(象形字總數不過幾百個，而全部漢字約有十萬之譜)。漢字中，絕大部分是形聲字，占了百分之九十幾。而形聲字，一半表示意義，一半表示讀音，要從中追溯源流、字義是不切實際的。我們頂多能做朦朧的、方向性的判斷。

[Wei Zhang · Rating 4 out of 5]

sometimes, we just take for things for granted, like a Chinese kids memory thousands of Chinese characters which has so many interesting stories behind them... Cecilia using her passion and knowledge to show that to a Chinese native. Thanks so much.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautifully translated and illustrated book tells about the origins of Chinese characters against the background of Chinese culture, customs, and, at times, even art and architecture. On he one hand, it helped me to improve my character memorisation skill. On the other hand, it only worked because of bringing a strong emotional, aesthetic even, component into the learning process.

[Matthew Koumis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am enjoying this very cultured book very much. Kudos to the author!
A note to the publisher: there are multiple typos in the 2008 English version. Eg page 30 right caption says loot, should be look.

[Tom Booker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lärde mig mycket om kinesiska tecken

[Viktor Nilsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intressant, lättläst, välresearchad! Ger förklaringar till de kinesiska skrivtecknens historia, dels som företeelse men främst den unika historia som ligger bakom varje tecken. Kinesiska skrivtecken har utvecklats långt från de ursprungliga bilder som de föreställer och parallellen är inte alltid självklar. Att lära sig om tecknets historia är inte bara intressant, det hjälper också när man ska komma ihåg dess betydelse! Författaren skriver om sina egna historier från besök i Kina, och vad historieböcker berättar för att ge en bild av det samhälle som har gett upphov till tecknen. Vissa allmänt vedertagna beskrivningar för olika teckens ursprung ställer hon sig tveksam till och tillägger även sina egna teorier (som ofta verkar mer logiska). Med tanke på detta och det mastodontarbete som legat bakom denna fantastiska produktion, är boken världsunik och originell.

Språket är vackert som en saga, eller kanske en reseskildring, men följsamt och inte alls tungt eller komplicerat. Boken bör kunna uppskattas av såväl den inbitne kinakännaren som den som inte vidrört ämnet förut.

[Laine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Četras, nē, piecas. :)

[Sky Feather · Rating 5 out of 5]

First impressions
So interesting to read about the connection of the everyday life in ancient China and how that was transferred and depicted at the written (and often speaking) language. The characters as such, become alive, carrying the history along, having as such, a voice of their own. What I have learned from this book?
I have learned many things about the Chinese people and their culture.

I was shocked to read that at the period of the Shang dynasty the family system was strictly patriarchal, with the female childbirths considered as “a necessary evil” for the family… While going far back in the Neolithic period, the family system was matriarchal, with women as the rulers and males assuming pretty much the role of a drone (male bee). In that period, many children had an “unknown father”.

The sizes in China are staggering. 2 million people are occupied each year just to keep the Yellow river under control.

What I didn't like is that the ancient Chinese people were eating many different kinds of meat, including dogs. But I believe it's just something that any annoyance has to do with the way we - in the western world - have been raised. For example, in the western world humans eat cows, whilst in India cows are sacred animals. How then Hindu people should think of people in the West?

Something I didn't know was that China developed the first road network, long before the Persians and the Romans, and two thousand years before the Incas.

Chinese people in the past concerned a lot about the afterlife, even going to extremes. During the first dynasties, it was common to sacrifice people and animals and bury them together with the weapons, jewels and ritual vessels needed by the dead in the afterlife. That practice though had to be abandoned, because it became very costly.

As it seems, the Chinese ideograms are not so difficult to learn. They represent the Chinese culture and how it was depicted through the use of ideograms and most of the times, more complex meanings are simply characters combined to form that word. For example, the word ‘to sit’ is depicted with the character of two men and below there's the character for the earth. (page 167) Lightning and electricity are depicted by the same ideogram, because electricity is like repeated flashes of lighting across the sky. And the lower part of this ideogram means: to stretch out, repeat, extend, again and again. That tells me that when the conversation goes about electricity, the image of repeating flashes of lightnings comes to a Chinese person’s mind. Fascinating, isn't it?

Lightnings may have been considered as an awe-inspiring phenomenon, but that is not the case for the thunderstorms. In fact, the thunderstorms were regarded as signs that Heaven was displeased with the way the ruler or emperor was running the country. (page 170)

So interesting to learn how the Chinese people use nature's elements as ethical symbolism. The bamboo for example, which belongs to the family of grasses, yet, in a year it can grow tall as a tree. It can leave for a hundred years before it dies, even if it won't bloom. And its ability to bend, adapt and endure harsh weather conditions, all these can teach us humans to do the same.

[时间的玫瑰 · Rating 5 out of 5]

在真心热爱的人眼里，某一个物件，某一项领域，都会在被诠释被理解的过程中焕发出无限光彩。其实我觉得这更像是一个进阶版的Lonely Planet，带着对文字演变的理解去认识中国的古迹和文物，进而又能更为透彻地回头去理解文字背后的经济文化历史地理含义。简直太棒！惟妙惟肖，俺阅读的途中萌生了各种乐趣和对陌生地区数不尽的向往。