New perspective on language evolution:

The oldest written languages were from icons to symbols such as Egyptian hieroglyphs and Sumerians cuneiform switched to Ancient Greek (alphabet letters) and later phonographic languages, while ancient Chinese kept its original icons and symbols to ideographic characters. 

The distinction between phonographic languages and ideographic languages is that symbols of phonographic languages (alphabet letters) have no resemblance between the signifier and the signified. The connection between them must be culturally learned. Numbers and alphabets are good examples. There’s nothing inherent in the number 9 to indicate what it represents. The  ideographic language, especially Chinese, on the other hand, keeps the iconic symbols that resemble the signifier and the signified in writing.  In Chinese history, the culture and civilization was always the first priority and Chinese language kept the original iconic features in spite of changes of its dynasties and emperors. Modern Chinese encompasses both ideographic and phonographic features with the invention of the pinyin system in the last century. It is a good example of coexistence that keeps original language and culture heritage and the unification of multiple languages for communication to meet future development of the world.