PRIMITIVE CHINSES CHARACTERS Are these symbols here primitive Chinese characters? Where are the oldest Chinese characters? It's a mystery waiting to be solved -- possibly by you.

	Carved symbol, discovered at the Neolithic remains of Jiahu (c.7000-8000 years ago)
	Carved symbols on pottery, from the Neolithic remains of Majiayao (c.4000-5000 years ago)
	Carved symbols on pottery, from the Neolithic remains of Dingcun
	As these pictures grew simpler in form, and took on certain meaning and pronunciation, they became pictographs. This is a living pictograph of China-Dongba Scripts in the Naxi language.
	Pictographs are the common origin of all human language. Look at these ancient written languages, and you'll find they are all pictographic.

BACK TO THE ROOTS

Picture of ancient Chinese communicationg in spoken language. Was these any other language before the Oracle Bone Scripts? Actually, the Chinese communicated with several forms of oral language in the pre-script agees. Meanwhile, to overcome the limitations inherent in oral language, many other systems of various symbols were invented.

SECRETS DISCOVERED IN MEDICINE

	In 1899, Chinese scholar Wang Yirong discovered on "Dragon Bones" -an ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine-some peculiar symbols. The symbols were jiaguwen, or script written on oracle bones, and these particular bones were found to date 3000 years.
	The Yin ruins at Xiaotun Village of Anyang Country, Henan Province, was once the capital of China's Shang dynasty (16th-11th centuries B.C).
	The world-renowned Jiaguwen (Oracle Bone Script) were bured beneath this land for over 3000 years.

IT ALL STARTED WITH A MYTH

	Legend has it that Cangjie, a historian-official who lived in the time of Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor), created Chinese characters at the inspiration of such natural objects as the sun, the moon, the stars, and footprints of animals and birds. Above: A portrait of Cangjie.