Much curiosity has surrounded the script used in ancient Chinese literature. It is widely known that it was far different from the currently used Chinese characters, but exactly how different has remained a mystery. Now a new book, aptly titled The Sealed Book, takes the lid off this age-old question.

Published in early December 2007, the massive 10-kg book, said to be sold at a retail price of 1,820 yuan ($253), is a collection of calligraphy, some would say a volume of paintings, in which more than 10,000 mysterious hieroglyph-like symbols or pictures, which are said to have been used since the beginning of the Chinese civilization have been included in a form of Chinese brush pen calligraphy.

The strange symbols are not recognized today and their meaning or what they represent remains shrouded in obscurity. They do,however, possess a pristine beauty.

Used in ancient China, these symbols are now like some lost members of the big family of Chinese characters and look more like signs to the people today, according to Han Meilin, the creator of the calligraphic art form for these old characters.

But readers who have seen the book also feel that each character looks like a painting from the hand of Han, a renowned Chinese painter and the leader of the design group that produced the mascots of 2008 Olympic Games, known as fuwa.

The character-like symbols in the book were in fact all collected by the artist from numerous tortoise shells, animal bones with inscriptions, ancient pottery or bronze vessels, old steles, historical books, stone inscriptions, rock paintings and other unearthed relics.

Some of the symbols in the book no longer have any use today, and the others played a similar role of characters in the past, such as totems or symbols of tribes, according to Han.

"I am not an archaeologist, so I look at these old characters from the aspect of their structure, the way of the composition of different parts of a character or a sign," said Han.

In his eyes, the structure of these ancient Chinese characters is perfect, and each one looks like a beautiful painting to him.

"You may find that in one of these characters, if there is space on one side, there must be something from the other side added to it to keep the balance of the whole. It is so incredible. I always wonder who created these smart signs," Han said.

Reference and artistic enjoyment

Attracted by these ancient legacies left by Chinese ancestors, Han wanted to present the symbols in a modern artistic form, careful not to destroy or change their original structures.

"I hope to provide a reference for the circle of fine arts, combining the feeling of history with pleasant visual enjoyment," he said.

The belief that painting and calligraphy share the same root is one of the major art theories in China, which has deeply affected the way Han has put the book together.

"There is an old saying in China that Chinese calligraphy and Chinese painting share a common root, as many old Chinese characters are evolved from paintings, and some early paintings have the role of characters." Han said.

In his view, although Chinese characters have changed a lot from their original forms, these square-shaped characters still have certain elements of paintings, which will explain why the handwriting of Chinese characters can be developed into a calligraphic art.

"I was born in the hometown of Confucius, and I was taught to write with brush pens at the age of five. I will never forget the enlightenment of calligraphy to me," Han said.

To Han, all the old symbols are alive, though they are unknown. "These characters were created and used by our ancestors, and they remained on pottery, bamboo tablets, turtlebacks, rocks and monuments. But their meanings have faded with time," he said.

At the press conference for the release of The Sealed Book held in Beijing on January 26, Han said the book is the beginning of his efforts to present those mysterious ancient symbols to the public. The artist also plans to publish the second collection this year for the remainder of symbols that he has collected.

Not content to sit on his laurels, Han then wants to compile a dictionary focused on the evolution process of every Chinese character together with experts in relative fields. The dictionary will collect characters that are still used by Chinese today and present them in ancient handwriting styles that changed through the ages.

Lifetime passion

Han's interest in ancient characters started from one of his childhood adventures. When he was a primary school student, he accidentally found some old books in a shabby temple near his home. It was the first time he had seen the strange-looking characters, which he later knew to be xiaozhuan, an ancient handwriting style adopted in the Qin Dynasty (B.C.221-B.C.207) for the purpose of standardizing the script of the just united country.

Finding the books written in xiaozhuan aroused in the boy a deep interest in script. Since then, Han has been stuck on collecting various old characters from different materials and places.

During the past over 30 years, Han has visited as many old temples in China as he can and collected numerous old books, calligraphic copybooks, and anything else containing ancient characters or symbols. He has developed the habit of writing down every new unknown sign or symbol that he comes across.

To date, he has collected over 30,000 ancient characters, signs, symbols or pictures. In his eyes, those mysterious images embody extensive and profound Chinese culture, and he has taken it upon himself to ensure they are not lost to the world.

Han said that ancient characters are very complicated, as one character could have several meanings, one meaning would have many characters to convey, and one character could have more than one form. He has been deeply impressed by the great creativity and imagination of the ancient people found during his research.

Value of the book

Han's new work has been a big hit in China's fine art circle, and is seen as an unprecedented experiment of the artist on the combination of national culture and art.

"The new combination of painting and calligraphy by Han, which presents a new visual experience and the spirit of contemporary art, is an important value of The Sealed Book," said Chen Lusheng, a well-known fine arts critic.

But besides the art value, there is wide consensus in China's art world that the biggest contribution made by Han's new work is its respect and exposure of Chinese culture. Art critics say that Han's book merges the old civilization with modern times.

"The Sealed Book demonstrates the cultural creativity of our Chinese ancestors very well, and it seems to bring readers back to the early period of 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, " said Feng Jicai, a famous writer in China who wrote the foreword for the book.

"It is a great achievement that the dedication of the artist to ancient culture has made those dead characters revived in a more beautiful way," said Li Xueqin, Director of the Institute on Chinese Studies of Tsinghua University, in one of his recent articles on comment of Han's new work.

"The deep and abstruse culture thousands of years ago has been embodied out of the creation of a modern artist," said Li.

According to Li, Chinese characters have always possessed and retained the nature of art, and this is why they have not evolved into a system of letters.

"Every nation will seek and learn something from tradition, and how to combine the Chinese traditional culture with our artistic creations is what every artist should do," said Han.

Who Is Han Meilin

Born in 1936, Han Meilin is one of the most prominent painters and sculptors in China. Highly talented in both painting and calligraphy, he is also accomplished in pottery art and other art fields. Han has won fame for his hardworking attitude and prolific art output. Besides producing the mascots of the Beijing Olympic Games, he is also the head of the design team of the 2008 Olympic emblem.

Han's creations mainly focus on animals and people, which embody the perfect combination of different cultural elements: Western and Eastern, ancient and modern. Since the 1980s, Han has held personal painting exhibitions and art shows in many countries. His major achievements include a pig stamp design issued in 1983, panda stamp design issued in 1985, and designing the logo of Air China.

The 71-year-old painter attributes his art achievements and inspiration to the Chinese traditional culture. He has all long persisted in a belief that art should express individuality, independence and the national character.