Shuowen, written by Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty, is the first dictionary in the history of linguistics in China to analyze glyphs, explain meanings and identify pronunciations. It occupies a very important position in the history of language development in China. Its research object is mainly Xiao Zhuan, therefore, it is the first choice for us to learn and master seal script, and it is also an indispensable step to understand Oracle Bone Inscriptions and bronze inscriptions.
2. Guided by the theory of "Six Books":
"Six Books" are six rules summarized by the ancients according to the analysis of the physical structure and usage of Chinese characters, namely "pictographic, indicative, knowing, pictophonetic, transliteration and borrowing". To understand the shape, sound and meaning of seal script from Shuowen, we must first understand the principle of "Six Books" and fundamentally understand seal script through the tips of "Six Books".
3, remember the special seal method:
There are many characters in seal script with unique seal method, which is far from the shape of regular script, which is the biggest obstacle to understanding seal script. Yuan Ying's Distinguishing Seal Characters by Dotting Colors, Zhu Zhifan's plainsong of Seal Characters in Qing Dynasty and Qingyan's Hundred Rhyme Songs of Seal Characters are all very suitable reference books for learning seal characters.