Chinese language
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Chinese is an umbrella term for all Sinitic languages, widely recognized as a collection of language varieties, spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Gr
Ji gui inscription, a bronze vessel inscription from the Western Zhou period, representing an early form of written Chinese.
The Tripitaka Koreana, a Korean collection of the Chinese Buddhist canon
"Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion" by Wang Xizhi, written in semi-cursive style
Calligraphy by Emperor Huizong of Song (12th century), written in the Slender Gold Style (瘦金体). It reflects the developed tradition of calligraphy as a literary and aesthetic art in Chinese language.
Old Chinese
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Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory i
Inscription on the Kang Hou gui (late 11th century BC)
Shang dynasty oracle bone script on an ox scapula
Guodian Chu Slips (c. 300 BC) with transcriptions in modern characters