How Chinese Writing Evolved From Drawings And Pictures To Stick Figures and Symbols

The third sign along from the left in the Chinese characters means exit.
Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
I can see how the Western alphabet evolved from the symbols for words, becoming the initial letters. T for taurus was the sign of the bull's horns. But what about Chinese?

Answer
Chinese evolved similarly. Just as we have created compound words in English such as telephone, from distant and phonos for sound,

In Chinese one stick drawing of  tree is the word tree. Three stick trees are a forest.

Useful Websites

www.china-learn.info/Hanyu/Flashcard_Menu.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_character_classification
www.duolingo.com Chinese

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, teacher of English and languages, in person and by email and Skype, workshops for individuals and business.