This study aims to interpret the significance as a cultural symbolism of ‘rentouhu (人頭 壺),’ which is gourd-shaped earthenware with a human face sculpted on the spout and has been excavated in large quantities at the Neolithic sites in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River in China. Although there have been brief descriptions on these artefacts due to their unusual shape, there has been little discussion of their significance as a cultural symbol. This study would like to argue that this object is a visual depiction of the origin myth that ‘humankind was born from a gourd,’ a myth that is widespread in China. The narrative of the origin of humankind from bottle gourd is universal and takes various forms in the origin myths of many ethnic groups in China, including the Han Chinese. It is also closely associated with the gourd, a device that enabled humankind to survive the disaster of the Great Flood. This paper draws on graphonomic, philological, archaeological, and anthropological data to discuss the cultural implications of ‘rentouhu (人頭壺).’ In particular, by clarifying the etymology of several Chinese characters including the character ‘yi’ (壹: one), this paper analyzes the traces of the myth of the origin of humankind from the calabash implicit in the etymology. Artefacts from Yinxu (殷墟), Anyang, Henan Province showing ‘a bird’s body with a human face’ discovered in the lower Yellow River region and the petroglyphs depicting the ‘flowers in the shape of human faces’ in Lianyungang (連雲港), Jiangsu Province in the downstream area of the Huai River are also expressions of the myth of the origin of humankind and cultural symbols of ‘rentouhu.’ This study will contribute to in-depth studies of the rentouhu as well as the origins of Chinese civilization. Beyond this, it will contribute to proposing a methodology of ‘Chinese character archeology,’ a convergence study involving graphonomy, philology, anthropology, and archeology.

As oracle bone writing entered into its third phase, the script for Phoenix「鳳」was being drawn up as「 」which includes the symbol 「 」. Conventionally, the 「盤」 code, like the 「 」 code, has simply meant a boat. In this article, it is argued that 「 」 means a dugout canoe and 「 」 means a sailing ship. In addition, 「 」 was used as a constituent part of 「 (鳳：Feng)」which was the original character for wind. The word 「凡」 in 「帆」 was used as a metaphorical symbol to mean wind because a sailing ship is used as the metaphor of wind . The Chinese character for「 」later became 「凡」 which constituted the characters for 鳳' and '風'. 般, 'which is considered to be same concept as 「凡」means circling the boat with a sail following the wind according to Shouwen Jiezi（『説文解字』）. Dr. Shizuka Shirakawa, a traditional Chinese calligrapher, interpreted 「凡」 as the first sentence of 「盤」. There is an interpretation that 「盤」 has the meaning of 「盤旋」, and therefore 「盤」 has the meaning of wind. However, I cannot understand that 「盤 旋」（circulate）is a metaphor for wind. Rather, it seems to be more reasonable to assume that 「凡」 means that the sail of a sailing ship receives the wind. The word 「凡」 originally meant sailing ship, and in its expanded meaning, wind, and in addition, it meant ship as a symbol that mediates the divine and human worlds.

Qianziwen was written by Zhou Xingsi. It spread to ancient Korea and had a major influence on Korean literary history. An immediate effect was that many written and printed versions appeared throughout Korea. Some Korean scholars imitated and translated the culturally alien texts of Qianziwen to facilitate the process of Chinese education in Korea. An indirect effect was to encourage the production of books with Korean characteristics. One example of this is the development of dictionary compilations in ancient Korea. This is a special phenomenon in terms of cultural exchanges between China and Korea, and is invaluable for the understanding of the spread of Chinese characters and classics overseas.

With the rapid development of China's social economy, new words are emerging endlessly. Neologisms are not only an important way for foreign students to understand Chinese society and culture, but also an important way for them to learn Chinese. Therefore, they should be seen as important content that cannot be ignored in Chinese teaching. Most middle and advanced-level students still keep a positive attitude towards the use of new words. They are eager to learn new words, but they often have problems using them. This paper will explain the necessity for foreign students to learn new words and the position and role of new words in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. Finally, it puts forward some suggestions for the selection and teaching methods of new words in Chinese teaching.

About 40 editions of the Korean classical novel Chunhyangjeon are available in seventeen countries, including China, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Mongolia, and India in the East and the USA, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary in the West. The act of translation is not simply rendering one language into another, but also changing the language system in order to interpret how the text will be received in the target culture. As a result of this process, there must be some cultural collisions and occupations displayed in the translation. Likewise, translated Chunhyangjeon is to experience similar collisions and occupations framed by foreign cultures. Japan took the greatest advantage of occupying Korean culture through interpretations of the text. To assit with colonization of the Joseon period, they made use of Chunhyangjeon to try to understand the realities of the Joseon people. As an attempt to discover the national traits of Joseon, they had the Japanese people read the translated versions of Chunhyangjeon and also Simcheongjeon and Heungbujeon. They found Confucian ideas in the text which included the three principles: filial duty, fidelity, and friendship. Accordingly, they unveiled their political intentions to strongly oppress the colonized country. On the contrary, English translations showed different aspects and directions in their translations. H. N. Allen, an American diplomatic minister and doctor, worked with James S. Gale, a Canadian missionary. Particularly fascinated with Joseon culture, Gale labored to produce a complete translation of the Flower in Prison (Okjunghwa). However, whether intentionally or not, his work often seems tainted by Orientalism because he regarded Joseon's spiritual values as those of Christianity. One of the other notable works is a French translation by J. H. Rosny. This work modifies the love of Chunhyang and Lee Mongryong by adopting western-style plays and jokes. It even includes kissing scenes and low-neck dresses of the female character forbidden in Joseon culture. This version was used for a Russian translation by Chekhov and also for the Vietnamese translation Chunhyang-Nangja (1910).

Xu Jinxiong(許進雄)’s Chinese Characters: Embracing Original Signification Series (字字由來頭, vol.1-7), was translated into Korean by the Humanities Korea Plus Hanja Civilization Research Center (HKPHCRC) in 2021. HKPHCRC has also published the Advanced Dictionary of Oracle Bone Script. Chinese characters reveal their original significations because they are a logographic writing. As a result, all Chinese characters connote their origins. Though the shape of Chinese characters has changed somewhat since the oracle bone script of 3300 years ago, when closely examined, their original significations can be recognized. In turn, we can grasp the developments of history and culture embedded in them. So, mastering Chinese characters does not mean just learning their superficial meaning but also learning their cultural history. They need to understand rather than memorize them.

Chinese characters are the core element of Chinese traditional culture, and they are the bridges and bonds that promote mutual understanding between Asia and the world. The Overseas Chinese Character Culture Research Center of Shanghai Jiaotong University takes the promotion of humanistic exchanges and mutual learning of civilizations in the world of Chinese character scholars as its mission, deepens the traditional cultural communication research using Chinese characters as the carrier, and produces more excellent results.The Overseas Chinese Character Culture Research Center of Shanghai Jiaotong University has made due contributions in personnel training and social services.