* Evolution, Not a Start Date: Languages evolve over time, gradually changing through borrowing, internal shifts, and other factors. There's no single point where Chinese "began" in the way we might think of a creation date.
* Earliest Records: The earliest known written form of Chinese, called Oracle Bone Script, dates back to around 1600 BCE. However, this doesn't mean the spoken language was brand new at that point; it had likely been around for centuries before writing developed.
* Diversity: Modern Chinese is a collection of dialects, some with significant differences. This diversity makes it hard to pinpoint a single "age" for the entire language family.
What we can say:
* Deep Roots: The Chinese language has a history spanning millennia, making it one of the oldest continuously used languages in the world.
* Ancient Origins: The earliest written records suggest a substantial history before the 1600 BCE date.
* Ongoing Evolution: Like all living languages, Chinese continues to evolve even today.
While we can't assign a single year, we can say that Chinese has a remarkably long and fascinating history.