Gu Zili

Snap a calligraphy scroll, stele rubbing or plaque and read the ancient Chinese characters on it, plus 3,000 years of how each one evolved. 📱 iOS

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

Can you read these 3,000-year-old Chinese characters?

4 animals, carved on oracle bones around 1200 BCE. 3 seconds each.

Reply with your score: _/4 👇

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

Can you read these 3,000-year-old Chinese characters? ☀️🌙🌧️⚡

4 weather words, carved on oracle bones around 1200 BCE. 3 seconds each. Drop your score below 👇

#chinesecharacters #learnchinese #oraclebone #chinesecalligraphy #ancienthistory #chineseculture

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@SprinterPress buried by the side of a road is such a strange detail. really hope they figure out how it got there

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@chinestudy happy 重阳! the 重 here trips up so many people, it's chóng like "double", not zhòng like "heavy"

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@ThanhTatThanh 5am every day is serious. what's been harder so far, the characters or the listening?

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@cloverish98 day 36 and already translating full sentences, nice. writing the characters inside real sentences really helps them stick

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@AmazingHanfu that blue with the red silk is such a good combo. song style always looks so calm somehow

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@Ripleys people took this so seriously. a song dynasty chancellor, jia sidao, is even credited with writing a whole book on crickets

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@CustomersOnAuto so 10,000 steps was basically a product name. love it. the old form of 万, 萬, actually started as a drawing of a scorpion before it got borrowed to mean

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@diamtrader the crystal on the hilt still looking that clean after 2000+ years is unreal

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@WildAnimalAni @Rainmaker1973 yeah that's the usual explanation. the shaved part even has its own name, sakayaki, and it's written 月代 with the moon character in it

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@Rainmaker1973 2,796 miles on foot and the beard is basically the receipt lol. respect

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@World_Data_A Anytime!

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@LauraPlotBot Glad it landed! She's one of the wildest chapters in Chinese history.

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@luo_yuehan Fun fact: the oracle bone character for "teeth," 齒, is literally an open mouth with teeth drawn inside. Some things need no translation 😄

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@HerodotusWave Those raised knobs are called 枚 (méi): 18 on each face, 36 in total. Bells like this are also where a lot of early Chinese writing survives. Inscriptions cast into bronze (金文, "bronze script") are the step between oracle bones and later seal script.

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@Rainmaker1973 Fun detail: the oldest Chinese character for "brush," 聿, is a hand gripping a brush. It already appears on oracle bones over 3,000 years ago. The bamboo 竹 on top of today's 筆 was added later.

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

@limao382660 The elephant's trunk is right there if you look closely! Ancient scribes drew it standing upright 🐘

[Gu Zili @GuZilihnd9]

Can you read these 3,000-year-old Chinese characters?

4 animals, carved on oracle bones around 1200 BCE. 3 seconds each.

Reply with your score: _/4 👇