提 要：“六书”在先秦时期是应识字教学的需要而产生的，“六书”的社会意义在汉代已与先秦时期不同，“六书”中的一些基本条例的出现，可能早到甲骨文时代，运用出土的文字材料和传世的识字教科书有助于探讨西周至春秋期间的识字教育问题。

关键词：六书 文字体系 识字教学 六艺 字书

Title: “Six Categories of Chinese Characters” and Literacy Education in Ancient Times of China

Author:Zhang Shichao, Professor, School of Chinese Language and Literature, Northeast Normal University, Changchun Jilin,130024, China.

Abstract:“Six categories of characters”(六书) in the pre-Qin period is produced for the teaching needs of the characters. The social significance of “Six categories of characters” in the Han Dynasty is different from that of the pre-Qin period. Some basic rules of the “Six categories of characters”, may be traced back as early as to the Oracle Era. The unearthed literacy materials and the text books passed down generation after generation can be used to help us probe into the literacy education in the time from the Western Zhou to Spring and Autumn.

Key words:Six categories of Chinese characters Writing system Literacy teaching The six arts Text book