Quantum Mechanics meets Pictographs

In the Shuowen Jiezi, Xu Shen said that the pictographs were created by ‘drawing the objects according to their contours’¹.

This section puts forward the hypothesis that those contours included some substances that are depicted at the molecular level.

In this section, I will show you a few examples of the molecular structure of substances being used as symbols. The oldest example is estimated to be 100,000 years old. The youngest examples are found in the Shuowen Jiezi, and may give a new insight into the Chinese language.

1. Translation by Cui Erping, comp., Lidai shufa lunwen xuan xubian (Sequel to anthology of essays on calligraphy of successive dynasties) Shanghai: Shanghai shu hua chuban she, 1993, p.4: cited by Wang Shizheng, p.51-52 and Cong Wenjun, p.416 in Chinese Calligraphy: Ouyang Zhongshi et al., 2008: Yale University Press