Chinese Mythology: Cang Jie Making Characters

It is said that Cang Jie was one of the Huang Di’s men who was born with four eyes and two pupils in each eye.

People were surprised to see him like this at first. But when he created words, people thought that his special look was because God chose him to do this great thing, so that he could see more and farther.

In ancient times, people used knots to keep track of things, big knots for big things, small knots for small things, and chain knots for connected things. Later, they carved symbols on wood or bamboo to remember things.

By the time of the Huang Di, people not only learned how to raise silkworms, but also invented boats, cars, bows and arrows, mirrors and cooking pots, etc., so the original way of remembering things was not enough.

So, Cang Jie decided to create writing. He observed nature, animals and utensils and drew different symbols to express different meanings, which is the origin of writing.

There is a legend that after Cang Jie succeeded in creating writing, a lot of grains fell from the sky like rain and there were ghosts screaming at night.