粘 has two pronunciations, zhān and nián. When pronounced as nián, it can be used as an adjective to describe the high adhesiveness of an object; it can also be used as a surname, originally belonging to the Manchu ethnic group. When pronounced as zhān, it functions as a verb, referring to the act of sticking or adhering things to each other; it also refers to the use of glue or paste to bond one thing to another.
Chinese characters, also known as Chinese characters or Chinese characters, are recorded symbols of the Chinese language. They are morphemic syllabic characters of ideographic writing. They are one of the oldest writing systems in the world, with a history of over six thousand years. In terms of form, they have gradually evolved from pictograms to strokes, from pictographs to symbols, and from complexity to simplicity. In terms of character creation principles, they have evolved from visual representation and semantic representation to phonetic representation. With the exception of a few Chinese characters (such as 瓩, 兛, 兣, 呎, 嗧, etc.), each Chinese character represents one syllable. It should be noted that countries such as Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and Vietnam have been deeply influenced by Chinese culture in history, and even their languages borrow Chinese characters.
Modern Chinese characters refer to the regular script form of Chinese characters, including traditional and simplified characters. Modern Chinese characters have evolved from Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Bronze Inscriptions, Large Seals, and Small Seals to Clerical Script, Cursive Script, Regular Script, and Running Script. Chinese characters were invented and improved by the ancestors of the Han ethnic group and are an indispensable link in maintaining the various dialect areas of the Han nationality. The earliest surviving Chinese characters are Oracle Bone Inscriptions and later Bronze Inscriptions from the Shang Dynasty around 1300 BC. They evolved into Small Seals in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and then into Small Seal and Clerical Script during the Qin Dynasty. During the Han and Wei dynasties, the Regular Script of Clerical Script prevailed, and it has been in use to this day.