The Origins of Chinese Writing: the Neolithic Evidence

Demattè, Paola

doi:10.1017/s0959774310000247

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Other types of context would not have been suitable for this particular purpose but future research may choose to observe the influence of other appropriate contexts when considering the reports of writing on other artifacts with different types of provenance, either actual or assumed. For example, it remains to be seen if reports of indistinct writing on artifacts such as documents, weapons, pottery, metal vessels, and jewelry (e.g., [ 65 , 66 ]) are also affected by the expectations of observers. In these situations, expectations may be driven by provenances based on such things as an artifact’s age, where it was found, its use, and the culture to which it belonged, and illusory perceptions of writing may then occur in line with these expectations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seeing Inscriptions on the Shroud of Turin: The Role of Psychological Influences in the Perception of Writing

et al. 2015

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The Shroud of Turin (hereafter the Shroud) is one of the most widely known and widely studied artifacts in existence, with enormous historical and religious significance. For years, the Shroud has inspired worldwide interest in images on its fabric which appear to be of the body and face of a man executed in a manner consistent with crucifixion, and many believe that these images were formed in the Shroud’s fibers during the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. But, more recently, other reports have suggested that the Shroud also contains evidence of inscriptions, and these reports have been used to add crucial support to the view that the Shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus. Unfortunately, these reports of inscriptions are based on marks that are barely visible on the Shroud, even when images are enhanced, and the actual existence of writing on the Shroud is still a matter of considerable debate. Here we discuss previous evidence concerning the psychological processes involved generally in the perception of writing, and especially when letters and words are indistinct. We then report two experiments in which the influence of religious context on perception of inscriptions was addressed specifically, using an image of woven fabric (modern linen) containing no writing and with no religious provenance. This image was viewed in two different contexts: in the Religious Context, participants were informed that the image was of a linen artifact that was important to the Christian faith whereas, in the non-religious Neutral Context, participants were informed that the image was of a simple piece of linen. Both groups were told that the image may contain faint words and were asked to report any words they could see. All participants detected words on the image, and indicated that these words were visible and were able to trace on the image the words they detected. In each experiment, more religious words were detected in the Religious Context condition than in the Neutral Context condition whereas the two contexts showed no effect on the number of non-religious words detected, indicating that religious context had a specific effect on the perception of illusory writing. Indeed, in the Neutral Context condition, no religious words at all were reported in either experiment. These findings suggest that images of woven material, like linen, inspire illusory perceptions of writing and that the nature of these perceptions is influenced considerably by the religious expectations of observers. As a consequence, the normal psychological processes underlying perception of writing, and the tendency of these processes to produce illusory perceptions, should be an essential consideration when addressing the existence of religious inscriptions on religious artifacts such as the Shroud of Turin.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seeing Inscriptions on the Shroud of Turin: The Role of Psychological Influences in the Perception of Writing

et al. 2015

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“…The available means of production may influence the level of complexity that a writing system can tolerate. For example, the increase in complexity from Oracle to Bronze periods may have occurred because turtle plastrons and ox scapular are relatively difficult to carve on, while writing on soft clay moulds is substantially easier [12,48]. Social factors have also influenced the evolution of written Chinese.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This may well have been a function of the different writing supports. Bones and scapular are relatively difficult to carve on, while bronze inscriptions were cast from writing on soft clay moulds [12,48]. To our knowledge, however, there are no large scale quantitative analyses supporting the claim that Chinese characters have either simplified or complexified over time.…”

Section: The Changing Face Of Chinese Writingmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Given that oracle bone writing was well-developed by this time, many palaeographers assume that an earlier form of the script must have been in use but has not survived in the archaeological record. However, despite the absence of clear glottographic precursors, a number of Chinese and Western scholars maintain that Late Neolithic graphs inscribed on jade, pottery and sherds are continuous with signs in the oracle bone script [12].…”

Section: The Changing Face Of Chinese Writingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Simplification is not dominant in the evolution of Chinese characters

Han¹,

Kelly²,

Winters³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Linguistic systems, be they spoken, written, or signed, are hypothesised to be shaped by pressures towards communicative efficiency that drive processes of simplification. A longstanding illustration of this idea is the claim that the characters of the Chinese writing system have progressively simplified over time. Here we test this claim by analyzing a dataset with more than a million images of Chinese characters spanning more than 3,000 years of recorded history. We find no consistent evidence of simplification through time, and contrary to popular belief we find that modern Chinese characters are higher in visual complexity than their earliest known counterparts. A plausible explanation for our findings is that simplicity trades off with distinctiveness, and that characters have become less simple because they have increased in distinctiveness over time. Our findings are therefore compatible with functional accounts of language but highlight the diverse and sometimes counterintuitive ways in which linguistic systems are shaped by pressures for communicative efficiency.

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“…A középkori iszlám írástudásra írnoki és papi jelenségként 14 Lásd például: Arlinghaus 2006, Britnell 1997, Clanchy 1993, Petrucci 1992, Pryce 2006, Schofield 196815 A kivétel Atiyeh (2005, de a szakmunkák többsége a modern időkre fókuszál. 16 Lásd: Dallal 2010, Hill 1994, Iqbal 2009, Masood 2009, Saliba 2007, Turner 1997. A tárgykör hatalmas bibliográfiájáért lásd Abattouy (2007).…”

Section: Táblázat: a Kelet Információtechnológiai Pontszámaiunclassified

Az információtechnológia civilizációs pályája: mérés és osztályozás

Morris¹

2018

InfTárs

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Ian Morris a társadalmi fejlődés (social development) fogalmával az emberi közösségek képességét fejezi ki „dolgok elintézésére” a világban. Az így értelmezett társadalmi fejlettség mérhető és összehasonlító állapotokat jelent, térben és időben. Morris 4 tényező (az energiafelhasználás, a társadalmi szerveződés, az információtechnológia és a hadviselő kapacitás) kvantifikálásával megszerkesztett indexét kifejtő könyvéből az információtechnológiára vonatkozó, a többihez hasonlóan a Kelet és a Nyugat összehasonlítására épülő fejezetet fordítottuk le. Úttörő okfejtései és becslései remek kiindulópontok, hogy újraértékeljük és alaposan végiggondoljuk az információtechnológia helyét és „küldetését” a beavatkozásképesség, a cselekvési hatékonyság szempontjából. A tanulmányt Z. Karvalics László bevezetésével közöljük. --- The civilization path of information technology: measurement and classification Ian Morris defines social development as “social groups’ abilities to master their physical and intellectual environments and get things done in the world”. From this approach, “social development is - in principle - something we can measure and compare through time and space”. The Social Development Index of Morris is based on the quantifiable attributes of four pillars: energy capture, social organization, information technology, war-making capacity, comparing the numbers of the West and the East. We have translated and published the information technology chapter of his book with Laszlo Z. Karvalics’ introduction to support the re-evaluation of the role and mission of information technology throughout the ages from a special point of view: to facilitate the ability to act effectively.

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The Origins of Chinese Writing: the Neolithic Evidence

Cited by 15 publications

References 6 publications

Seeing Inscriptions on the Shroud of Turin: The Role of Psychological Influences in the Perception of Writing

Seeing Inscriptions on the Shroud of Turin: The Role of Psychological Influences in the Perception of Writing

Simplification is not dominant in the evolution of Chinese characters

Az információtechnológia civilizációs pályája: mérés és osztályozás

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