英文摘要
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This paper illustrates the possibilities and conditions, in which the act of writing the Chinese character is performed. The paper focuses on the graphic configuration of the written character, addressing the process of its completion and associations it evokes, so as to exemplify and explicate the connections between "a written work" and "a literary writing." The author contends that the material conditions of "a written work" might be transmuted into the subject of "a literary writing." As such, the character in its application is mutually transferable between the realms of the abstract and the concrete. The graphic configuration of the character is the manifestation of a mental process rendered possible by the material conditions and techniques of writing. The acquisition of the character configuration is made by cognitive experiences, such as recognizing, memorizing, and performing. The meaning, as mentally formed, is the driving force that leads the act of writing, so that writing is the result of mental meanings visualized. The character is a form of public assets, so that individual acquisition is naturally a part of cultural heritage. On the one hand, individual acquisition is regulated by social norms; on the other hand, the writing of the character necessarily undergoes the transformation brought about by individuals. This has been shown in both the configurative evolution of the character itself and the different schools of calligraphy at different times. Thus, the transformation brought about by individual writing indicates the individual's acceptance of and resistance against the existing configuration of characters. While calligraphers are highly conscious, common writers are subject to the sound and meaning of words, their likenesses in form, or writing habits. The transformation of the character cannot be completed, until the character is normalized by its social usage. Examined from such a perspective, the character and its carrier, or the materiality by which it is manifested, are important objects of our study, which might help us to understand different thinking trends and material culture. These two account for the foundational spreading of knowledge and culture.
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