Today is UN Chinese Language Day—a perfect moment to... celebrate one of the most influential writing systems in human history. For thousands of years, the cultures of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam were deeply shaped by Chinese civilization. Until the early 20th century, Classical Chinese served as the shared literary and scholarly language across East Asia, much like Latin did in Europe. Chinese characters (汉字 / 漢字) became the common script of the region, later adapted locally as Kanji in Japan, Hanja in Korea, and Chữ Hán in Vietnam. Over time, each country developed its own writing innovations to better express their spoken languages: • Japan created Hiragana (平仮名) and Katakana (片仮名). • Korea invented Hangul (한글). • Vietnam eventually adopted the Latin-based Vietnamese alphabet. Yet the story of Chinese characters themselves is truly fascinating. 🇨🇳 The Legend of Cangjie According to ancient Chinese tradition, the characters were invented by Cangjie (仓颉), a legendary scribe under the Yellow Emperor around the 27th century BCE. While observing the tracks of birds and animals, the patterns of nature, and the constellations in the sky, he created the first symbols—zì (字). Legend says that on the day he succeeded, grains of rice rained from the heavens, and that night ghosts wept—because humanity had just gained the power of written wisdom. UN Chinese Language Day is observed annually on April 20, which was chosen as the date "to pay tribute to Cangjie, who is presumed to have invented Chinese characters about 5,000 years ago". Chinese characters are the world’s oldest continuously used writing system and one of the most widely used by number of speakers. In Chinese mainland since the 1950s, the government promoted simplified characters to boost literacy. Meanwhile, traditional characters continue to thrive in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. You’ll still see both versions depending on the context—books, signs, calligraphy, or digital media. 🇯🇵 Japan: Kanji + Kana Chinese writing reached Japan around the 5th century CE. The Japanese adapted the characters as kanji and cleverly developed two new scripts from them: • Hiragana, flowing and cursive, used for grammar and native words. • Katakana, angular and sharp, mainly for foreign loanwords and emphasis. Modern Japanese is an effective mixture: kanji carry the core meaning of words, while hiragana and katakana handle the rest. Japanese students learn 2,136 joyo kanji by the end of high school, with many more used in daily life. 🇰🇷🇰🇵 Korea: From Hanja to Hangul For most of Korean history, Literary Chinese written in Hanja (한자) was the official script—from the Gojoseon era all the way through the Joseon Dynasty. Even after King Sejong the Great created the beautiful Hangul alphabet in 1443, it took centuries for it to fully replace Literary Chinese in official and scholarly writing. Today, Hanja is still essential for reading historical documents, classical literature, and academic texts. Anyone seriously studying Korean history or the humanities needs a solid command of Chinese characters. 🇻🇳 Vietnam: From Chữ Hán to Quốc Ngữ In Vietnam, Chinese characters (Chữ Hán) dominated official and scholarly writing until the early 20th century. Around the 13th century, Vietnamese scholars created Chữ Nôm—a unique system that combined Chinese characters with newly invented ones to write the Vietnamese language. It was especially popular for recording folk poetry and literature. During French colonial rule, the Latin-based Vietnamese alphabet (Quốc Ngữ) gradually took over. Today, Chinese characters and Chữ Nôm are mostly reserved for cultural and ceremonial purposes—like traditional calligraphy, temple inscriptions, and cultural festivals. Happy UN Chinese Language Day!show more
