Hey friends, surprise!
I know we don't usually drop episodes this often, but something special is coming up.
UN Chinese Language Day.
And I just happen to know a tale that's tied to this very day.
I couldn't let it pass without sharing something meaningful with you.
So here we are with a little bonus episode just for you.
Welcome to this episode of Chinese Folk Tales.
I'm Huang Rui.
Did you know that UN Chinese Language Day is celebrated on April the 20th, which also marks the arrival of the traditional Chinese solar term, Green Rain?
It's meant to honor one legendary figure, Chang Jie.
According to the legend, he is the one who created Chinese characters.
Well, not the exact characters we use today, but the very first one that paved the way for a riding system.
So, let's go back.
Way back.
Forget the clocks, the sirens, the glowing screens.
Imagine a world where the only clock was the sun.
When it rose, you rose.
And when the sun finally dipped below the horizon, you go to rest.
People lived by that rhythm.
It was simple, steady.
This was the time when the Yellow Emperor lived.
Not merely a legendary ruler.
He was also the man who united tribes and laid the foundational stones of Chinese civilization.
Legend says that among those who served him was Chang Jie.
He kept track of livestock, the grain, the everyday details of the tribe's life.
At first, he recorded things in simple ways, tying knots in ropes to remember what mattered.
But as life grew more complex, those nods were no longer enough.
One day, the Yellow Emperor said, Chang Jie, you've got the brains and the eye for detail.
From today on, I want you to keep track of other things, our rituals, our hunts, and our people.
Can you do that?
Chang Jie paused for a moment, a flicker of excitement, a hint of nerves.
Then he looked up at the Yellow Emperor and his eyes steady, determined.
I will, Your Majesty.
I won't fail you.
Everything will be in order.
Chang Jie was gifted, and he worked hard.
Day after day, he watched, he remembered, he tried to keep everything in place.
But the world didn't slow down.
It grew busier, more tangled, more difficult to hold on to.
And even Chang Jie began to feel it.
One day, he stood before a pile of unfinished tasks.
His thoughts began to tangle.
And for the first time, frustration quietly set in.
Tie a knot for more, untie one for less.
But now, there are too many.
Everything's a mess.
This system's broken.
I need something new.
Something that records everything clear and perfect.
No mistakes.
One day, Chang Jie walked to a fork in the road.
A few hunters began to argue about Which way to go?
East!
There are antelopes ahead!
No, north.
A herd of deer passed not long ago.
You're both wrong.
West.
Two tigers went that way.
Chang Jie listened.
Confused, he stepped closer.
How do you know?
The hunters pointed to the ground. to the tracks beneath their feet.
And in that moment, something clicked.
A sudden spark of insight flashed through Tang Jie's mind.
Wait, one footprint stands for one animal.
Then why not symbols for everything?
For all that I manage.
The idea struck him like a flash.
He ran all the way back to the tribe, excited, and began to draw.
Line after line, shape after shape.
New symbols to represent different things.
He couldn't wait to share his discovery.
People gathered around him, drawn in by curiosity.
Their eyes filled with interest and surprise.
Chang Jie, can these symbols really help us remember?
Of course!
Look, this is water, and this is a mountain.
Put them together, and you can record a place.
A moment, a story.
No matter how much there is, nothing will be lost.
And it is said, the heavens were moved by what Chang Jie had done, by what he had given to the world.
So the sky began to rain, but it wasn't water.
It was golden grains.
And that day came to be known as grain rain, gu yu in Chinese.
And that is how Chinese characters were born.
At least, that's how the legend tells it.
The first time people could record life and knowledge and pass it down from one generation to the next.
Today we remember this story on a special day UN Chinese Language Day, a day that honors language and writing.
Of course, the story goes far back. more than 3000 years ago in the Shang Dynasty.
Archaeological evidence uncovered symbols on the oracle bone script, the earliest known Chinese writing system.
From those ancient inscriptions to the technologies that followed, from knot tying to written characters, from paper making to movable type printing.
The way we record and share ideas has never stopped evolving.
Today we even see robots writing and AI generating text.
New tools, new methods, still telling our stories across thousands of years.
It's the same spirit of innovation that keeps this written tradition alive and that brings us to the end of this episode of chinese folktales.
Thanks for listening.
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Bye for now.
