180364 SE Overview of Chinese Culture by Chinese Characters (2010W)

Chinese characters are the only ideographic writing (as opposed to phonetic writing) which has been preserved for over 3,000 years. The shape of a Chinese character is directly related to its meaning, and both integrate into a unity. The formation of a Chinese character, an organic whole of the shape and the meaning, is one-step made following the rule of the nature, reflecting the direct communication between and integration of the subject and the object. The formation also implies an important thinking way, i.e. thinking in terms of images or the imaging thinking. I will teach this part by the following three chapters: 1) The Ideographic Writing and Chinese Culture; 2) The World View of Chinese Culture: Tian Ren He Yi (Universe and Man Uniting and Resembling Each Other, ????); and 3) Chinese Cuture, A Typical Xiang (Image, ?) Culture.