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Tel: 86-10-8858.9693 Written Chinese emerged in its embryonic form of carved symbols approximately 6,000 years ago. The Chinese characters used today evolved from those used in bone and tortoise shell inscriptions more than 3,000 years ago and the bronze inscriptions produced soon after.
Drawn figures were gradually reduced to patterned strokes, pictographs were reduced to symbols, and the complicated graphs became simpler. Early pictographs and ideographs were later joined by pictophonetic characters.
In fact, there are six categories of Chinese characters: pictographs, self-explanatory characters, associative compounds, pictophonetic characters, phonetic loan characters, and mutually explanatory characters.
Chinese words are monosyllabic. A large proportion of Chinese characters are composed of an ideogrammatic element combined with a phonetic element.
There are about 56,000 characters, of which only about 3,000 are in common use. In addition to their functional value as symbols for records and communication, Chinese characters have an aesthetic value (e.g., calligraphy).
All of China's 55 minority groups have their own languages, except the Hui and Manchu, who use Chinese; 23 of these have a written form. Today, classes in schools in predominantly national minority areas are taught in the local language, using local language textbooks.
Why do most non-Chinese speakers choose to learn Mandarin Chinese? The reason is that Mandarin Chinese is understood by most Chinese people. As mentioned above, it is China's national language. Whether you are interested in basic communication, scholarly research, or pursuing a career in China, learning Mandarin Chinese is necessary for communication and often serves as a bridge for communication.
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