The Secrets of Chinese Characters

Who was Cangjie?

• A Chinese emperor

• The Yellow Emperor’s historian

• A famous poet

• A Japanese monk

Where was Cangjie sitting when he created the first characters?

•  A) On a mountain

• B) In a palace

• C) Alongside a riverbank

• D) In a forest

What happened the night Cangjie invented writing?

•  A) It snowed heavily

• B) The sky rained millet and ghosts cried

• C) Thunder struck the palace

• D) Birds flew in circles

The earliest Chinese writing dates to which dynasty?

• A) Qin Dynasty

• B) Han Dynasty

• C) Shang Dynasty

• C) Shang Dynasty

Where were the earliest Chinese characters found?

•  A) On paper scrolls

• B) On bamboo sticks

• C) On ox bones and turtle shells

•  D) On stone tablets

What is a pictogram?

•  A) A symbol that sounds like a word

• B) A symbol that looks like what it means

• C) A secret code

• D) A number

Which character means “person”?

• A) 木 (mù)

• B) 人 (rén)

• C) 日 (rì)

• D) 一 (yī)

The character xiū (休) means “to rest.” What two parts make it up?

• A) Sun + person

• B) Tree + sun

•  C) Person + tree

• D) Water + fire

Most modern Chinese characters have two parts: a radical and a ________ component.

• A) color

• B) sound

• C) shape

• D) size

What does the radical rì (日) mean?

• A) Moon

• B) Fire

• C) Sun

• D) Time