Riddle Explanation

Author: Wang Dehai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: The Chinese nation has a history of five thousand years of civilization, with a long and profound heritage of ethnic cultural arts. In this splendid and magnificent treasure trove of national cultural arts, lantern riddles shine exceptionally, and the origin of all riddles—character riddles—are a radiant pearl. The creation of lantern riddles stems from the use and transformation of the form, sound, and meaning of Chinese characters, while the creation of character riddles is the foundational work of lantern riddle creation. In terms of form, Chinese characters are square-shaped scripts composed of different strokes such as horizontal, vertical, diagonal, dot, and hook. Character riddles are like magical cubes made of these components, with endless variations. In terms of sound and meaning, Chinese characters are ideophonic scripts. With artistic techniques such as puns and homophones, they can vividly and diversely depict Chinese characters, especially those with multiple pronunciations and meanings. Endless transformations, clever rhymes, hidden wisdom, and unique charm—all of these are elaborated and showcased in the book Character Riddles Explained, compiled by Wang Dehai and Cai Fang.