仓颉造字

After Fuxi drew the Eight Trigrams, people began to carefully observe the sky, water, and mountains.

They gradually learned to remember the appearance of wind and rain. However, there were more and more things in life, and relying solely on memory was still not enough.

Sometimes, everyone agreed to go to the foot of the mountain the next day to find fruits. When the next day came, some forgot the place, some forgot the time.

Sometimes, hunters saw animal footprints and wanted to tell others. But when they got home, they could only gesture with their hands, unable to explain clearly.

Other times, an old man taught an important method. The young understood at the time. But after many days, they could not remember it fully.

At that time, there was a man named Cangjie.

Cangjie often observed things. He saw birds walking on the mud, leaving tiny footprints. He saw beasts running through the grass, leaving traces on the grass.

These footprints do not speak. But when others saw them, they knew what had passed by.

Cangjie found it very interesting.

One day, he sat by the river, watching the water flow slowly. The water flowing over the stones left curved lines. He then looked up at the mountains, which were high and low, each with a different shape.

He thought, birds and beasts can leave footprints. Mountains and rivers have their own shapes. Can the words people say and the things they do also be recorded?

Thinking of this, Cangjie picked up a branch and drew a line on the mud.

He first drew the sun. The sun is round, rising in the east in the morning, illuminating the earth. Cangjie drew a round shape on the ground.

Then he drew the moon. The moon is sometimes round, sometimes curved. Cangjie looked for a long time and drew a curved shape.

Later, he drew mountains. The mountains are high and low, so he drew several pointed shapes.

He drew water. Water flows and meanders. So he drew curved lines on the ground.

Cangjie looked every day and drew every day.

He looked at birds' footprints, beasts' footprints, and the shadows of branches on the ground. Whenever he saw something new, he found a way to draw it.

At first, people did not know what he was doing.

Someone came over and asked, "Why are you always drawing on the ground?"

Cangjie pointed to the figures on the ground and said, "This is the sun. This is the moon. This is a mountain. This is water. In the future, when we see these figures, we will be able to recall these things."

People crouched down and carefully looked at those figures.

They found that although these figures were simple, they were very useful. Even if a person was not present, he could leave a record. Later people who saw them could understand what the earlier people wanted to say.

Gradually, the figures Cangjie drew became more and more numerous.

Some were used to record dates, some to record places. Some were used to record where water was, and some to record where danger was.

Later, people called these recordable figures 'characters'.

With characters, many words were no longer just spoken from the mouth. They could be left on stones, or on wooden slips.

From then on, people learned to record.

They not only recorded the dangers they faced, but also the methods of survival.

Thus, wisdom was passed down from generation to generation, and knowledge was accumulated.