SMC228H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Scriptorium, Guodian Chu Slips, Funerary Text
18 Sep 2018
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Document Summary
Changed the way human kind was able to foster and preserve cultural memory. The origins of writing systems in the ancient world. Comparable to emojis (2000 ad) - visuals of writing are coming back. Visual forms of writing = engaging and still relevant in today"s culture. Difficult to recognize/interpret today i. e. rosetta stone: end of 18th century; demotic script (greek alphabet), hieroglyphs. Difficult to recognize/interpret today i. e. rosetta stone: end of 18th century; demotic script (greek alphabet), hieroglyphs i. e. the book of the dead (1550 bce): funerary text; based on picture, images, ideas. Cultural memory becomes a tangible form; tangible expression of our humanity. Not just idea, but phonograms (consonantal sounds) Turning sound into a sign/visible thing -> transcribe oral cultures and languages into writing. Greek started putting in vowels into phonetics. Through centuries, logograms/pictures became gradually simplified but keeping the skeleton of original shape.
