Hanzi are not merely a tool for communication; they are a cornerstone of Chinese culture and a profound symbol of its continuity. For thousands of years, a shared written language has unified a vast and diverse nation, even when spoken dialects were mutually unintelligible. A person from Beijing and a person from Canton could not understand each other's speech, but they could read the same newspaper. This has given Hanzi immense cultural and political importance. The practice of writing Hanzi is also considered a high art form known as calligraphy (書法 shūfǎ). The way a character is written—the balance, the stroke order, the flow of the ink—is believed to reflect the artist's character and spirit. To compare this to a Western concept, think of the Latin alphabet versus the Bible. The alphabet is a functional tool for writing. However, for centuries, the Latin of the Vulgate Bible was the unifying literary and religious language of Western Europe, studied and revered by scholars from England to Italy. Hanzi combines both the functional role of the alphabet and the deep cultural, historical, and artistic role of a revered classical text. It is both the medium and a major part of the message.
In modern China, Hanzi are ubiquitous. You see them on street signs, in books and magazines, on websites, and in text messages. A literate person knows several thousand characters. A crucial point for any learner is the existence of two standard sets of characters:
For a beginner, it's important to know which system you are learning, as it depends on your goals and where you plan to use your Chinese.