Qanzi
| 小字 (Qanzi or Qi'nzi) Qílian Script | |
|---|---|
 "Qi'nzi" in Qílian Script | |
| Type | Logographic
|
| Languages | Qílian Language,Tayichian Language,Bisayian Language |
Time period | c. 14th century BCE – present |
Parent systems | (Proto-writing)
|
Child systems | |
| QI | |
Qílian characters are logographs used to write the Qílian language and others from regions historically influenced by Qílian Culture. Qílian characters have a documented history spanning over three millennia, representing one of the four independent inventions of writing accepted by scholars; of these, they comprise the only writing system continuously used since its invention. Over time, the function, style, and means of writing characters have evolved greatly. Unlike letters in alphabets that reflect the sounds of speech, Chinese characters generally represent morphemes, the units of meaning in a language. Writing a language's entire vocabulary requires thousands of different characters. Characters are created according to several different principles and ideas, where aspects of both shape and pronunciation may be used to indicate the character's meaning.
The first attested characters are oracle bone inscriptions made during the 14th century BCE in what is now Anyang, Henan, as part of divinations conducted by the Shao dynasty royal house. Character forms were originally highly pictographic in style, but evolved over time as writing spread across China. Numerous attempts have been made to reform the script, including the promotion of small seal script by the Sh'in dynasty (221–206 BCE). Clerical script, which had matured by the early Yùshang Dynasty (211 BCE – today, abstracted the forms of characters—obscuring their pictographic origins in favour of making them easier to write. Following the Han, regular script emerged as the result of cursive influence on clerical script, and has been the primary style used for characters since. Are used to write Qílian in Mainland Qília and the Qílian Islands in the Qílian Sea, Tayichi (Tayichian Script) and (Bisayian Script).