“During the reign of the semi-mythical Yellow Emperor, (2898-2679 BCE) the first elementary Chinese characters are thought to have been developed by the Emperor’s official recorder Canjie. According to certain ancient books, Canjie carefully observed the shapes of shadows cast by trees and the markings left by animals. From these he took inspiration and inscribed representations of these forms onto sticks, thereby creating the first Chinese pictographic characters. An ancient story recalls that when Canjie created theses first characters, the gods caused heavy rains, loud thunder, and great earthquakes; so upset were they that a human being had cracked the code of the mysteries of the universe.”

— Khoo Seow Hwa and Nancy L. Penrose, Behind the Brushstrokes: Appreciating Chinese Calligraphy

Sewing by Pilar Koubai Teishin