Official script
Official script basically evolved from seal script. It mainly changed the round strokes of seal script into square folds. The writing speed is faster. It is difficult to write with lacquer on wooden slips. Make round strokes.
Official script is also called "official script" and "ancient script". It is a font based on seal script to meet the needs of convenient writing. Simplify the small seal script, and change the evenly rounded lines of the small seal script into straight and square strokes, making it easier to write. It is divided into Qin Li (also called "Gu Li") and Han Li (also called "Jin Li"). The emergence of official script is a major change in ancient writing and calligraphy. Official script is a common solemn font in Chinese characters. The writing effect is slightly wide and flat, with long horizontal strokes and short straight strokes. It pays attention to "silkworm head and swallow tail" and "twists and turns". It originated in the Qin Dynasty and reached its peak in the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the calligraphy circle, it is known as "Han Li Tang Kai". It is also said that official script originated during the Warring States Period.
Official script is relative to seal script, and the name of official script originated from the Eastern Han Dynasty. The emergence of official script was another major reform of Chinese characters, which brought Chinese calligraphy art into a new realm. It was a turning point in the history of the evolution of Chinese characters and laid the foundation for regular script. The structure of official script is flat, neat and delicate. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, pointillism such as strokes and strokes had been transformed into upward strokes, with changes in light and heavy pauses and the beauty of calligraphy art. The styles are also becoming more diverse, which is of great value for artistic appreciation.
It is said that the official script was compiled by Qin Weicheng Miao in prison. The complex was eliminated and simplified, the character shape was changed from round to square, and the strokes were changed from curved to straight. Change "continuous strokes" to "broken strokes", moving from lines to strokes, making it easier to write. "Liren" are not prisoners, but "subordinate officials", that is, small officials in charge of documents. Therefore, in ancient times, official script was called "zuoshu". Official script became popular in the Han Dynasty and became the main style of writing. As the first Qin Li, many seal meanings were left, which were continuously developed and processed later. It broke the writing tradition since the Zhou and Qin Dynasties and gradually laid the foundation for regular script. Under the unification of the thought of "deposing hundreds of schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", the official script of the Han Dynasty gradually developed and became the dominant calligraphy style. At the same time, cursive script, regular script, and running script were derived, laying the foundation for art.
Regular script
Regular script is also called Zhengshu, or Zhenshu. Its characteristics are: square shape and straight strokes, which can be used as a model, hence the name. It began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. There are many famous masters of regular script, such as "Ou Ti" (Ouyang Xun of Tang Dynasty), "Yu Ti" (Tang Dynasty - Yu Shinan), "Yan Ti" (Tang Dynasty - Yan Zhenqing), "Liu Ti" (Tang Dynasty - Liu Gongquan), "Zhao Ti" (Tang Dynasty - Liu Gongquan), (Song and Yuan Dynasties-Zhao Mengfu) and so on. In the early period of "regular script", there are still very few official scripts left. The structure is slightly wider, the horizontal strokes are long and the straight strokes are short. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties handed down, such as Zhong Yao's "Declaration Form" (left picture), "Jian Ji" "Zhi Biao", Wang Xizhi's "Le Yi Lun" and "Huang Ting Jing" can be representative works. Looking at its characteristics, just as Weng Fanggang said: "The wave painting of the official script is changed, and the horizontal and straight lines of the ancient official script are still retained."
After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the north and the south were divided, and calligraphy was also divided into two schools. The Northern style calligraphy has the legacy of the Han Dynasty. The writing style is clumsy and vigorous, but the style is simple and strict. It is better than the list book. This is the so-called Wei stele. Southern calligraphy is more sparse, graceful and subtle, and is better than rulers and tablets. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to regional differences, personal habits and calligraphy styles were very different. The northern books are strong and the southern books are borrowed, and each is perfect, regardless of superiority or inferiority. However, Bao Shichen and Kang Youwei strongly praised the books of the two dynasties, especially the stele style of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Kang cited ten beautiful things to emphasize the advantages of Wei stele.
The regular script of the Tang Dynasty is like the prosperity of the country in the Tang Dynasty, which is truly unprecedented. The style of calligraphy is mature and calligraphers emerge in large numbers. In terms of regular script, Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun, and Chu Suiliang in the early Tang Dynasty, Yan Zhenqing in the middle Tang Dynasty, and Liu Gongquan in the late Tang Dynasty all had their regular script works valued by later generations and regarded as models for calligraphy practice.