One - Buried and Camouflaged Writing in Early China

Summary

This introductory essay lays out the concept of “hidden” writing, which, by its formal intricacy, deflects attention from language. It also addresses semasiography, systems of marking with visual signs. The aim is to explore modes of graphic communication often thought to be secondary to writing as a purely phonic record. In fact, these complex forms and codified signs operate alongside and beyond language, overlooked yet as compelling and omnipresent as phonic writing itself. These graphs are situated in relation to, but as distinct from, research on “cultural graphology” (Jacques Derrida), “graphesis” (Johanna Drucker), and “the graphosphere” (Armando Petrucci). Evidence to make our points comes from palaeography and steganography, along with notations as diverse as Otto Neurath’s “Isotype,” Xu Bing’s emoji narrative, and Inka khipu knot notations.