In those days, the human race had no language. They conveyed their thoughts entirely through gestures, gazes, and bodily movements. At first, they could only produce single-syllable exclamations such as "Yi," "Ah," and "Mu"—short and crude. Gradually, they learned to combine two sounds, like "Gua-gua" and "Nuo-nuo." After millions of years of oral transmission and refinement across generations, it was not until the later years of You Chao Clan that simple, rudimentary vocabulary with some order finally emerged.
By the era of Ji Ren Clan, speech had become fairly rich. It could recount events, express emotions, and impart teachings. Yet there was still no writing. Whenever something important happened, people could only pile up stones as a record, a method known as the "Stone Piling Records."
Stone piling meant using the size and number of stones, the height and arrangement of the piles, and their position and orientation to allude to different people, events, and objects. This method was cumbersome and laborious, and the piles were easily eroded by wind and rain or disturbed by children. The slightest carelessness could render all their efforts futile.
Later, among the Fanren Suanzi Clan, a weaver suddenly had a flash of inspiration and invented the art of twisting cord. From this, she further realized the method of "Knot Tying Records."
She gathered flexible tree bark, twisted it into fine cords, then hung dozens of them side by side on a wooden frame. She used knots in place of characters: major matters were marked with large, tightly tied knots, while minor matters received small, delicate knots. Old events were tied on the inner side, while recent important matters were tied at the outer ends. To record more events, she dyed the cords with juices from various grasses. Green represented plants and farming, red recorded