Chinese ideograms are one of the most distinctive types of writing in the world and a salient characteristic of Chinese culture.
Beyond serving the functions of recording and transmitting information, Chinese characters, due to their multiplicity of forms and limitless possibilities for extension, have developed into an art in themselves.
Other scripts can, of course, also be used for decorative purposes. So, for example, the Roman alphabet was used in manuscripts of the Middle Ages, where the initial letter of each chapter was elaborately ornamented with figures of flowers, birds, and beasts. But no other script can match China's in the richness of its formal elements.
The art of calligraphy that was developed from Chinese ideograms over the ages is one of the chief products of Chinese art and culture, and it served among traditional Chinese scholars as a symbol of achievement on the highest spiritual plane.
Chinese writing was intimately bound up with the everyday life of the common people as well. Even if they were illiterate, they could hardly escape its pervasive influence on their whole way of thinking.
First of all, the belief that Chinese characters were sacred symbols created by an ancient sage led to their being cherished and preserved from soiling or defilement. In the past, nearly every town in China had a special building where written paper was taken for burning, a practice that reflects the common people's awe of the written word.
Next, the belief that characters possess magical properties led to their use in talismans and charms. Pieces of paper with oddly brushed characters (often illegible) were considered to emanate a mysterious force that protected the user and warded off evil.
Finally, characters with an auspicious meaning were widely used as decorative patterns on buildings and everyday articles, a practice that is scarcely so common among other peoples. In collecting samples of the stylized writing found on traditional folk architecture on Taiwan, I came across some characters which I was unable to make out and which also defied the efforts of an elderly expert I consulted. Our conclusion was that in an era in which most of the population was unable to read, illiterate craftsmen were all too apt to alter the form of a character beyond all semblance of recognition--like the Westerners of an earlier day who used to add to their illustrations of things Chinese a few bizarrely shaped characters completely unintelligible to the Chinese themselves.
Shown here is the character for fu, or good fortune, written on the back of a chair. Fixed permanently on a piece of furniture, writing like this is meant to bring the idea that the character stands for into the daily life of the family. When people sit in the chair, the character presses closely against their back, as though they were being pressed closely against good fortune itself.
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