汉字五千年 Five Thousand Years of Chinese Characters

This is a series of documentary on one of the most ancient written language in human civilization: the Chinese character, han zi. Personally, I fell in love with it from the first episode. It contained lots of information on history of China, its culture, the transformation of the society, its future as well as comparison to other civilizations and cultures in other part of the Earth. Unfortunately it is totally in Mandarin with Chinese subtitles. It would be more suitable for people with better command of Mandarin. Nonetheless, it is a must see for all Chinese learners. I give my both thumbs up.

第一集：人类奇葩

本集是全片的开篇，通过汉字与世界上其它文字的命运对比，凸现出汉字在人类文明史中独 树一帜的地位。

作为世界上生命力最长的文字，汉字保存了人类历史上最为丰富的文明纪录。这些纪录中不 仅包括了汉语民族的，同时也包括周边民族的。匈奴、突厥、蒙古、党项等民族，朝鲜、日 本、印度等国家的许多文明成果都是因为汉字才得以留存。

汉字不仅为世界上超过三分之一的人提供了交流的工具，而且汉字作为中华文明的主要载体 ，为基督教文明、伊斯兰文明，提供了对比、认知、借鉴、甚至是自我修正的对象。汉字所 承载的一些基本理念，例如民胞物与、仁、理等等，为人类文明的未来发展提供了一种选择 的可能。