The remaining Chinese, living mostly in southern China, speak the other seven major Chinese dialects:
wu, xiang, gan, northern
min, southern
min, yue (Cantonese), and
kejia(Hakka). In spite of their mutual unintelligibility, all eight branches of Chinese share the same writing system, the only fully developed ancient system of writing still used. The earliest examples of this system of Chinese writing appear on thousands of animal bones and tortoise shells from the middle of the second millennium B.C., during the late Shang Dynasty. However, according to recent archeological evidence, some 32 inscribed symbols on painted pottery from an early Yangshao culture site near Xi'an in Shaanxi, suggest the existence of Chinese writing as early as 6,000 years ago.
History
Chinese historians have estimated that Chinese civilization began about 5,000 years ago in the Huanghe (Yellow) River basin and the middle Yangzi region. The voluminous history, Shi Ji ("Historical Records"), by Sima Qian (b. 145 B.C.) and recent archeological finds support the validity of the assumption. For example, the neolithic sites of the Yangshao culture along the midsection of the Yellow River confirm the traditional view that the river basin was the cradle of the Chinese civilization.
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