{"product_id":"the-origins-of-chinese-writing-9780197635766","title":"The Origins of Chinese Writing","description":"This study explores the evidence for Chinese writing in the late Neolithic (3500-2000 BCE) and early Bronze Age (2000-1250 BCE) periods. Chinese writing is often said to have begun with little incubation during the late Shang period (c. 1300-1045 BCE) in the middle-lower Yellow River Valley area as a sudden independent invention. This explanation runs counter to evidence from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Mesoamerica that shows that independent developments of writing generally undergo a protracted evolution. It also ignores archaeological data from the Chinese Neolithic and early Bronze Age that reveals the existence of signs comparable to Shang characters. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePaola Demattè takes this data into account to address the issue of what writing is, and when, why, and how it develops, by employing a theory of writing that does not privilege language as a prime mover. It focuses instead on visual systems of communication as well as ideological and socio-economic developments as key elements that promote the eventual development of writing. To understand the processes that led to primary developments of writing, \u003cem\u003e The Origins of Chinese Writing\u003c\/em\u003e draws from the latest research on the early writing systems of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Mesoamerica, and other forms of protowriting. The result is a novel and inclusive theoretical approach to the archaeological evidence, grammatological data, and textual sources, an approach that demonstrates that Chinese writing emerged out of a long process that began in the Late Neolithic and continued during the Early Bronze Age.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaola Demattè \u003c\/strong\u003eis Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology in the Theory and History of Art and Design Department at the Rhode Island School of Design.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50389823947026,"sku":"9780197635766","price":141.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_e89bdeb6-b074-4e43-9236-0e67bb17a5a3.jpg?v=1728930861","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-origins-of-chinese-writing-9780197635766","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}