Archeologists trained to decipher this first written language, have opened up the fascinating world of the early Shang period for present-day students to study. The early characters began to evolve with the passage of time. The pictograph form gave away to the more abstract form of characters drawn on balanced lines.
「世界上沒有一個民族，是這樣愛自己的文字」，莊伯和說：「我們的祖先很早就使文字具備多樣的功能，它不但超越了語言符號的作用，發展成造形藝術，還含蘊高度的哲學思想。」