My Thousand Character Essay

These words are not learned. When I was a child, I recognized it in the textbook and wrote it one stroke at a time. Only when you grow up do you realize that words are not on paper. In instant noodles, on the leaves of pothos, in the cracks of the floor where cats have stepped. The day one moves in, the day another's stuff doesn't go away. Home, Sheng, An, Ting, Water, Mountain, Tong, Shu, Chess. Every word was lived by someone before it was written down. Chinese people carry these words in their bones and blood. You don't have to remember them, they are there. As you live your life, they will grow. When you love someone, they take shape. You watch a bowl of soup, a game of chess, and a book in silence, and they become what you are. This is not a book about words. This is a book that grows out of words. Black and white. But the words are hot.