Chinese Characters

As the language of one of the oldest civilizations in the world, the history of Chinese characters is a dense one. Chinese characters number in the tens of thousands, many of which average Chinese citizens have memorized. This language, which is most commonly divided by foreigners into its two most well known dialects (Mandarin and Cantonese) cannot be defined by its pinyin, (the word's pronunciation and tones) but it's characters. Characters, which are the Chinese form of letters, are calligraphic and vary depending on whether the speaker relies on traditional or simplified speak. Those who speak traditional Chinese often reside in more rural or agriculture areas, whereas cities like Beijing are filled with simplified Mandarin speakers.
Characters are based off of the oral interpretation of what the word means. One of the distinctive differences between simplified and traditional characters is that the traditional characters are more drawn out and require more strokes. Strokes are what makes up the radical, or how many brush strokes one must make in order to get part of the word. Radicals are what make up characters. Radicals can have their own meaning, but they are often used as puzzle pieces. In other words, you can put a variety of radicals next to other radicals in order to form different words.
These very characters were used in Oracle Bones, which were a series of ancient animal bones that were used during the Bronze Age in divination. The earliest known woodblock printing on paper, was discovered in 1974 in an excavation of Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. It is a dharani sutra, which was originally printed on hemp paper and dates back to 650 to 670 AD. During the Tang Dynasty, this art form flourished but was considered very new to the Chinese. That being said, the art of the Chinese character is far more extensive than one might believe. Said to have been invented during the Huan Dynasty, characters were introduced by the Yellow Emperor's historian Cangjie. Legend states that he had four eyes and four pupils, and that when he invented characters, Chinese deities began to cry millet. Since his story is shrouded in mythical speak, he is not known solely as the inventor, but his story is still told today.
I am interested in Chinese characters because I am currently a Mandarin 1 student and would love to extend my knowledge on the vast variety of words within Chinese language.

Source 1: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/china-guide/

      This site is accurate because National Geographic is a magazine that employs archeologists and scientists in hopes of providing educational value to its readers and preserving historical and scientifically finds.

Source 2: http://www.bbc.com/news/world/asia/china

BBC is a radio/ website dedicated to informing its readers about current and past historical finds. Therefore, it employs people with historical backgrounds to research.