ISBN10: 0197635768, ISBN13: 9780197635766, [publisher: OUP USA 2022-12-22, New York] Hardcover Language: ENG
[London, United Kingdom] [Publication Year: 2022]

Oxford Univ Pr, Date: 2022. Hardcover. New. 320 pages. 9.56x6.46x1.36 inches. 2022. Oxford Univ Pr ISBN 0197635768 9780197635766 [GB]

ISBN10: 0197635768, ISBN13: 9780197635766, [publisher: Oxford University Press Inc] Hardcover New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days.
[Southport, United Kingdom] [Publication Year: 2022]

ISBN10: 0197635768, ISBN13: 9780197635766, [publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, New York] Hardcover Hardcover. 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 writinggenerally 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 Shangcharacters.Paola Dematte 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, TheOrigins of Chinese Writing 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 theoreticalapproach to the archaeological evidence, ...
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