Poetic Imagery - The Visual Translation of Chinese Characters

Traditional narratives usually depict scenes through words and convey content using paintings. However, during the research, the author found that in the evolution history of Chinese characters, there exists a unique way, that is, through the ingenious visual translation of Chinese characters, the text content is presented in a visual form. This study aims to explore the design method of visualizing Chinese characters, selecting outstanding Chinese character creations from past dynasties as research objects, with a particular focus on Su Dongpo's "Evening View" and the "Bamboo Leaf Poem" from the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. Through an in-depth analysis of the structure, meaning of Chinese characters, and their usage in different contexts in these two works, this article attempts to reveal how to utilize the image-based characteristics of Chinese characters to represent the content of the text in creation. Ultimately, this study explored the unique value of Chinese character visualization in textual representation and its potential for future applications across multiple dimensions.