contents preface the dawn of civlization the graphic characters of the river civilization the fate of the graphic characters of the river civilization using pictures to express ideas the origin of han characters legends from ancient times discovering the origins of han charactersthe evolution of han characters ancient drawing-like characters the development of modern characters the main aspects of the development of han characters the formation of han characters the development of the ��six categories�� how han characters were formed the form and structure of modern han characters the square form of han charactersthe mystery of modern han characters pictographic elements in modern han characters the use of pictographic elements in modern han charactershan characters and the chinese language why han characters are well suited to the chinese language han characters are the basic structural units of the chinese language the word-making ability of han characters han characters bridge the gap between dialects and eras the ��sinosphere��chinese history told in han characters china in ancient times china��s ancient civilization shown through han characters the art of han characters the calligraphic art of han characters famous calligraphic treasures commercial-art han characters the seal art of han characters stepping into the information age the computerization of han characters fears and worries for han characters in the information age