I'm sorry, but that sounds like something that Athanasius Kircher[1] (who created a fascinating but completely off-the-wall translation system for Egyptian hieroglyphics[2]) would say.
As far as I know, Chinese writing likely followed the same path as Sumerian and Egyptian hieroglyphs (both of which, IIRC, have well-attested archaeological evidence): originating as markings for inventory-like purposes (a drawing of two penguins => this shipment contains two penguins) and then expanding into recording spoken language.
There is a complicating factor, AFAIK, in that the earliest known form of Chinese writing, the oracle bone script used to write on bones for divination purposes, already has clear meaning as words and is possibly traceable through to modern characters.[3][4]
On the other hand, as well, "had only very vague meanings" seems to be the initial take on every untranslated writing system: Chinese, hieroglyphics, Mayan, Minoan/Mycenaean, etc.
If you're interested in this sort of thing, I recommed Umberto Eco's book, The Search for the Perfect Language.
Edit: I just got to digging around and remembered that the cover of John DeFrancis' The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy has the same phrase in several forms of Chinese:
As far as I know, Chinese writing likely followed the same path as Sumerian and Egyptian hieroglyphs (both of which, IIRC, have well-attested archaeological evidence): originating as markings for inventory-like purposes (a drawing of two penguins => this shipment contains two penguins) and then expanding into recording spoken language.
There is a complicating factor, AFAIK, in that the earliest known form of Chinese writing, the oracle bone script used to write on bones for divination purposes, already has clear meaning as words and is possibly traceable through to modern characters.[3][4]
On the other hand, as well, "had only very vague meanings" seems to be the initial take on every untranslated writing system: Chinese, hieroglyphics, Mayan, Minoan/Mycenaean, etc.
If you're interested in this sort of thing, I recommed Umberto Eco's book, The Search for the Perfect Language.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_Kircher#Egyptology
[2] https://publicdomainreview.org/2013/05/16/athanasius-kircher...
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_characters#History
[4] http://www.ancientscripts.com/chinese.html
Edit: I just got to digging around and remembered that the cover of John DeFrancis' The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy has the same phrase in several forms of Chinese:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7f/Defrancis.jpg
The top row, IIRC, is oracle bone script, the third is modern, simplified Hanzi, and the bottom is pinyin. The phrase is "Chinese Language", roughly.