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THE original written characters of the Chinese were purely hieroglyphic, like those of the ancient Egyptians. Experience taught them, however, that the power of simple imitative characters to convey ideas was limited and imperfect; that they were able to express but a small portion of that which occurs to the mind of man; and

from this cause the Chinese language, as it now exists, became gradually unfolded. Proof that the written language originated in picture writing may be adduced from the similarity existing between some of the ancient and modern forms of their characters.

The Chinese language, still written in characters, is symbolic, and hence imperfect, notwithstanding it presents a greater variety than any other language on earth. A single character placed in various positions is often made to convey ideas which it would be difficult to express by a simple drawing of the object.

Greater ingenuity was required in order to represent invisible substances, such as light and air; or the qualities of things known among us by the term adjectives, such as those implying strength, weakness, or human action. This is usually accomplished by the union of two or more simple forms, placed together in such a manner that their combination may convey the required idea. Thus, to express brightness, the figures of the sun and moon are combined, and to denote the adjective "aspiring," a man's breath is represented as going out of his body and ascending. The character of a king is described by one The idea of a family is expressed by a house, under which three human beings are sheltered.

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The Chinese distinguish six modes of writing their characters:

1. The Chuen-shoo.-This is the ancient mode of writing, and is derived immediately from hieroglyphics, and is either a caricature or a stiff and imperfectly written character.

2. The Le-shoo.-The Le-shoo style of writing is used by official attendants, and is written with greater freedom than that employed in books.

3. The Keae-shoo.-This is termed the pattern style, and it is the mode of neat writing at the present day. It is also employed in printing.

4. The Hing-shoo.-This is the regular running hand in which anything which requires despatch is written.

5. The Tsaou-tze.—This is a hasty and abbreviated form of writing; it is used in common transactions of life, and in correspondence.

6. The Sung-te.-The Sung-te is the regular form of the character used in printing. It appears very beautiful in the impression.

The division of characters made according to the ideas they express, are also sixfold:—

1. Figures, or more strictly hieroglyphics, bearing a resemblance to the objects they express. 2. Epithets, or characters, expressive of attributes and relative circumstances.

3. Combination of ideas, in order to express a simple object.

4. Invented symbols, or characters in which both the form and idea are transposed.

5. Symbols uniting sound, which are of necessity very uncertain as to their signification.

6. Metaphorical symbols, which bear a resemblance to the original meaning, but are nevertheless simply figurative.

Many of these characters are similar in form, but differ widely in meaning; while others have a variety of forms to express a similar idea. The number of the whole is uncertain. Some writers state that there are ten thousand, while others

assert there are as many as eighty thousand. Perhaps the medium would be nearest the truth; but the fact is, there is no dictionary, either native or foreign, in which they are all contained.

From the great number of characters used, as well as their varied significations, it has been supposed that the Chinese language is difficult of acquisition. On this subject, Davis remarks— "The roots, or original characters of the Chinese, or what, by a species of analogy, may be called its alphabet, are only 214 in number, and might be reduced to a much smaller amount by a little dissection and analysis. To assert that there are so many thousand characters in the language, is very much the same thing as to say that there are so many thousand words in Johnson's dictionary. Nor is a knowledge of the whole more necessary for every practical purpose, than it is to get all Johnson's dictionary by heart, in order to read and converse in English."

The written characters of the Chinese language are the same over an extent of 2000 miles of latitude-from Japan in the north to Cochin China in the south. This uniformity in the written character, however, has not prevented the existence of diversities in the oral languages of the different provinces. While the natives of the two extremities of the empire, indeed, can read the same books, and can understand each other perfectly on paper, they can scarcely hold intelligible converse with each other. For example: while a native of Pekin pronounces the numerals expressive of the number 22, urh-she-urh, a native of Canton calls them ee-shap-ee, although both write them alike.

The total number of different syllables in the Chinese language does not greatly exceed four hundred, but these are trebled and even quadrupled by various intonations, which are sufficiently distinct to the ear of a native. This obviates the confusion which would arise from the circumstance, that many words have a great variety of significations; as che, which means to know, wisdom, folly, to arrive, effect, govern, pierce, impede, stop, foundation, toes, of, a branch, elegant, grass, present, etc. But sometimes the danger of misunderstanding in speech is obviated by joining two words together to express any particular object. Thus foo means both "father" and " axe;" and the possibility of being misunderstood is prevented by saying foo-tsin, "father-relation," and foo-tow, "axe-head." The written language,

therefore, is more brief and concise than the oral language, inasmuch as it has no need of such expletives. The character clearly expresses its signification, by the position in which its root is placed.

The grammar of the Chinese language is very limited. There is no inflexion in it whatever, whence the relation to each other of words in a sentence can only be marked by their position. Thus the verb must always precede its object, and follow its agent. The plural is formed by a multitude of particles affixed to nouns, as for instance jin-mun signifies "men," while jin alone man. Sometimes the plural number is denoted by repeating the noun, as jin-jin, men,” but this is rendered unnecessary when a specific number is prefixed, as san-jin, "three men.' The genitive or possessive case is usually

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