Learn · TED

Talk5 min

The secret behind how Chinese characters work

Gina Marie Elia · TED

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About

According to legend, in the 27th century BCE, the Yellow Emperor of China charged his historian, Cangjie, to develop a system of writing. Sitting alongside a riverbank, Cangjie noted the imagery that surrounded him. From this, he created the first Chinese characters. So, how has Chinese evolved in the last 3,000 years? Gina Marie Elia explores the history of one of the earliest written languages. [Directed by PeiHsin Cho, narrated by Pen-Pen Chen, music by Zing Audio].

The talk

  1. The secret behind how Chinese characters work 5 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TED-Ed
Speaker
Gina Marie Elia
Year
2024
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
History, Languages and linguistics, Teaching and learning
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed