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China rock art, its Discovery, Distribution and Meaning
*Chen Zhao Fu*, Beijing, China.

* ROCK ART AND THE BEGINNING OF WRITING IN CHINA*

Rock art, a historical record by hunters of the Paleolithic Age unto
tribesmen of modern times, documented human actives over the long years.
Their rich contents reveals the social practices, philosophies,
religions, psychology and aesthetic tendencies of the early man.

Originally, before the invention of writing, man used many methods to
help memory, to express ideals and to exchange opinions. Among these
methods, to keep records by pictures were the most important one. When
man drew images to record something and to express certain wishes, then
rock art was appeared. Rock art is one of the ways used to keep records
by pictures in prehistoric times.

Heishan engravings, Ganshu

In China's rock art, as far as I know, the rock painting of village life
in Cangyuan, Yunnan, may recorded a plundering warfare. The Zuojisng
rock paintings, Guangxi, were made as a memorandum of the ritual
meetings. The engraving of Hongshituoquan, Xinjiang, narrated herding
life of northern grassland in China, and Heishan engravings represent
hunting and dancing, perhaps pray for a good season of hunting.

Keeping record by picture exert a tremendous influence for the invention
of writing, as picture writing appeared. Then, the picture writing
evolved into pictograph. The trace of this evolution is very clear in
Chinese writing.

<Left: "The Parents of Writing" an inscription beside engraving in
Yinshan, Inner Mongolia

In Yinshan, Inner Mongolia, we find an inscription beside some
engravings that says, "The Parents of Writing". In Helanshan, we find
another inscription beside some engravings, "The Writing Deity's Writing
(the writing of a writing deity).

These inscriptions reflect the relation of rock art and writing,
especially Chinese writing, because it is pictographic character. They
are connected not only because they both record daily life, drew man's
preserved form in self-expression and creativity, but also that Chinese
pictographic characters are connected with rock art directly.

Chinese possesses a wealth of paleographic materials: which inscribed on
the fragment of tortoise-shell and bone (Jiaguwen) or used as
inscriptions on bronzes (Jiwen) about 3,000 --4,000 years ago. The
historical significance of bronze inscriptions has already been
discussed. The inscriptions recorded mainly the family names of the
owner of the vessel and form of address of the ancestor to whom the
sacrificial vessel was being dedicated. Pictographic characters usually
represented family names. For example, yu (fish) was written in the
shape of a fish with carefully drawn lines for the head, tail, scale and
fines; and Lu (deer) took the form of a deer with its two antlers
branching out.

Inscriptions on bronzes (Jiwen)

The pictorial element of Jiaguwen is also clear and very close to the
rock art. In this case, the Chinese ancient writing in the earliest
period very closed to the picture, to the rock art, sometimes all the
same between rock art and the writing, such as the sun, moon, mountain,
bow, cart, field.... and so on. Then, we can say that the Chinese
writing origin from rock art; or rock art exert a tremendous influence
for the invention of the writing -- and the rock art really is the
parents of writing.