Read further to find out!
This is set in 3500B.C when the first writing system attested today as Sumerian language existed. There aren't any known written language prior this date. But humans just like you and me have been living as early as 60,000 years ago! Initially humans were cavemen then hunters, nomads and then found out about agriculture- started settling in the banks of rivers, then came the industrial revolution, information technology and today we are in a world of Internet. This is out of any history textbook. But language is something that's been there developed ever since humans were cavemen! Some of the oldest languages like Tamil are predicted to be atleast 40,000years old.
So, what really bothers me is what where they doing from 60,000B.C till 3,500B.C? How well were their societies organized? How structured was the languages before they got their written scriptures? There is a BIG story missing from all our history books! We simply don't have any records of how people were emotionally and otherwise before 3,500B.C. We simply can't reject them as being primitive and ignorant. Today we are as ignorant as they were 60,000years ago! We still don't know how we came into existence, what happens after death or even as simple as why we sleep!! They were advanced in their own way. They built the giant Pyramids 4000years ago and we don't exactly know how did they did that. And Pyramids come only at the end of this 54,000year long missing story.
This again takes me back to a new question: Why did they settle and start doing agriculture? Why the agrarian society? And right around that time writing system surprisingly springs up! That can't be a coincidence.
Language is the key to all of this. We were so complex and capable that each of the group separated by rivers and oceans was able to create it's own unique language. Should have been a very slow process. They should have developed language to control the masses, to conceive and transfer an idea over the masses, to improve trade and productivity.
For more than forty thousand years languages were oral. They didn't find any reason to keep records of what they spoke probably until they settled in, where they had to keep counts of called and pieces of land cultivated by each. That's when they invented the writing system.
So understanding the writing systems like kanji and others really depends on how much of importance we give to appreciating the growth of language (whichever may be). The writing system of Japanese is much younger compared to other older languages. Chinese greatly influenced the writing system. History should not be taken lightly as it can give us a great deal of insight when learning kanji!
Two side notes : One, from now on I'll try to add some historic stories when blogging about kanji learning methods. And two, do watch 'the Man from Earth' movie. It was a real eye opener for me to appreciate the fact that we are still not sure on the history of mankind!
"We have got only the last 4000 years or so right, the ones before that is completely missing! "
