(1) Da Zhuan can also be divided into broad and narrow sense. The broad sense of Da Zhuan is relative to Xiao Zhuan. All forms of Chinese calligraphy before Qin Shihuang unified the characters and popularized Xiao Zhuan can be called Da Zhuan. The concept of big seal script used in this paper is a generalized big seal script. There are three kinds of seal script materials in a narrow sense: one refers to the fifteen chapters of Shi Shuan Pian, also known as Wen Shu, which is said to have been written by Shi Shuan, a teacher of Zhou Xuanwang. Shi Shuo Pian has been lost today, and most of its words are included in Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi. (See Wang Guowei's Shu for details. (2) refers to the font represented by Shi Guwen. Shi Guwen refers to the words carved on ten stone drums. Ten ancient poems carved on ten stone drums are four-character poems praising the monarch's hunting life. There used to be more than 600 words. Because of its age, it was moved around and almost eroded. Now there are only more than 300 words left. Thirdly, the three types of "cursing Chu style" discovered in Song Dynasty are also representative fonts of Da Zhuan. It is generally believed that these are the representatives of Western Qin characters in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. In a narrow sense, Da Zhuan pays attention to the symmetry rules of fonts, which are dignified, completely linear and complex in font structure.
Broadly speaking, according to the written materials, it can be divided into three types: 1, Oracle Bone Inscriptions, 2, bronze inscriptions, 3 and bamboo and silk scripts.
1, Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Oracle Bone Inscriptions refers to the writing carved on the tortoise shell bone. Most of the words carved on tortoise shell bones are about divination, so they are also called Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Oracle Bone Inscriptions was unearthed in Yin Ruins, the old capital of Shang Dynasty (now Xiaotun Village, northwest of Anyang, Henan Province), where the so-called bamboo script "moved from Pan Geng to Yin in 773" was found. Oracle Bone Inscriptions was used from the middle and late Shang Dynasty when Wuding Emperor Gaozong lived, until the demise of Shang Dynasty, from14th century BC to 1 1 century BC, mainly in the middle and late Shang Dynasty. Therefore, Oracle Bone Inscriptions can be regarded as the representative of the characters in the middle and late Yin and Shang Dynasties. However, some Oracle Bone Inscriptions from the early Western Zhou Dynasty have also been unearthed in Joo Won?, but the number of words is very small.
Oracle Bone Inscriptions is a fairly mature language. Among them, there are about 4,000 species, of which about 2,000 are known at present, and about half are unknown, mostly some ancient clan names, names or place names. Oracle Bone Inscriptions is a kind of writing with its own system, and its composition mode is quite complete, that is, there are six word-forming methods summarized by the Han people. Especially in the later period, pictophonetic characters in Oracle Bone Inscriptions account for about 20%, which shows that Chinese characters are developing towards phonology and reflects the basic nature of written recording language and expression language.
One of the basic characteristics of Oracle Bone Inscriptions is its strong pictographic significance. The writing is picturesque, but there have been lines. Second, the strokes are slender, with fewer round strokes and more straight strokes. This is because Oracle Bone Inscriptions carved the tortoise shell and animal bones with a knife, which is not easy. Third, there are many variants. There are often several or even many ways to write the same word, but it is essential to express the basic part of the meaning directly.
2. Jinwen. Both ancient literature legends and archaeological excavations prove that China has had bronzes since the Xia Dynasty. By the middle of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, few words began to appear on bronzes, which was the early bronze inscriptions. The so-called bronze inscription refers to the words cast on the bronze. Because people before Qin and Han dynasties were called bronze and gold, the words cast on bronzes were called bronze inscriptions. The ancients also called copper auspicious gold, so bronze inscriptions are also called auspicious gold inscriptions. For example, the bronze inscriptions compiled by Luo Zhenyu are called "Three Generations of Fujin Documents". In fact, the book only collected inscriptions of Yin Shang and Zhou Dynasty. People also call the words engraved on bronze wares "calligraphy". "Hanshu Suburb Sacrifice": "This tripod is small and knowledgeable, and it is not recommended for ancestral temples." Yan Shigu's note: "Duan, carved also; I know, remember. " That is to say, the carved word is called money, and the written word is called knowledge. Know and remember. Because most of the bronzes in Shang and Zhou dynasties were bells and ding, the bronze inscriptions were also called. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Zhong Ding was used for offering sacrifices to ancestral temples. In ancient times, it was called Yi (Yi, Nagano), so inscriptions on bronze were also called Yi characters. Different opinions are actually one thing. The inscriptions on bronzes are customarily called inscriptions. The longest inscription in the Western Zhou Dynasty is Mao's, with 497 words, which is a magnificent sight.
Bronze inscriptions began to appear in the middle of Shang Dynasty, became the main language in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and were used until the end of the Warring States Period. As far as written materials are concerned, Oracle Bone Inscriptions and bronze inscriptions are the same writing system, which was used at the same time in the late Yin Shang Dynasty and the early Western Zhou Dynasty. Later, inscriptions on bronze completely replaced Oracle Bone Inscriptions and became the representative of writing in the Western Zhou Dynasty. As far as the existing materials are concerned, some inscriptions in the early Shang Dynasty were even earlier than those in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and their pictographic significance was stronger.
There are 4000 inscriptions on bronzes, which are not completely consistent with Oracle Bone Inscriptions. So far, about half of them have been known. The characteristics of bronze inscriptions are similar to those of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, but they are not exactly the same. The pictographic meaning of early bronze inscriptions is very strong, which began to be linear in the late Shang Dynasty and was completely linear after the Western Zhou Dynasty. There are many variants of inscriptions on bronze, but the basic parts are indispensable. Because bronze inscriptions are written on wax models with brush first, the strokes are mostly strokes, the font structure is also chic, vigorous and powerful, and there are arc pens. The pictographic meaning of bronze inscriptions is stronger than that of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which is directly related to the fact that bronze inscriptions are written first and then cast.
3. Bamboo slips and silk books. Bamboo slips are important writing materials in ancient times. Silk refers to cloth and is also an important writing material in ancient times. Bamboo and silk characters refer to the characters written on bamboo and silk. From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Qin Dynasty, it was widely used, also known as the ancient prose of the Six Kingdoms. The earliest bamboo slips were found in the Han Dynasty, that is, the book in the wall obtained from the bad Confucius residence of Duke Lu. Secondly, during the reign of Jin Taikang, Wang Wei 'anli's tomb in Ji County was stolen, and ten bamboo slips, such as Yi and Mu Zhuan, were obtained. In the late 1930s, silk script was found in an ancient tomb in Changsha ammunition depot. In the middle of the silk book, there are colorful fairy tale patterns painted around it. Later, many bamboo slips and silk paintings in the Qin and Han Dynasties were unearthed one after another, such as Zhouyi unearthed from Mawang Han Tomb in Changsha, Laozi unearthed from Yinqueshan Han Tomb in Shandong, and a large number of Qin slips unearthed in Liye, Hunan in recent years, all of which are extremely precious cultural relics.
The writing styles of bamboo and silk characters vary greatly, some are similar to Xiao Zhuan, some are close to Gucci, and some are like tadpoles, called tadpoles. Bamboo and silk characters are generally considered to be the common characters of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. After sorting out, there are about 1900 characters in bamboo slips and silk scripts that have been excavated. This kind of bamboo and silk writing is different from the Han bamboo slips unearthed in Juyan and Dunhuang in the northwest.
(2) The small seal script is relative to the big seal script, which refers to the script after Qin Shihuang unified China and Prime Minister Li Si suggested that the so-called six-nation script at that time be sorted out and standardized. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the ruling power of the Zhou royal family declined, and there was a phenomenon that "the princes wanted to govern, but they did not unify with the monarch, and they all went to their classics because of their evil rites and music." It is divided into seven countries, different acres, different tracks, different laws and regulations, different clothes, different voices and different personalities. In this case, "Prime Minister Reese played it, but not with it" began to sort out and standardize the words by administrative order for the first time in Chinese history. As a cultural undertaking, this is a big step forward and worthy of recognition.
Small seal script is based on the big seal script, sorting out and standardizing, eliminating variant characters, shaping the text structure, simplifying the structure and strokes of some characters, standardizing the writing of radicals and fixing them. According to Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi, there are 9,353 characters in Xiao Zhuan, which is much more than the bronze inscription, indicating that the social life at that time was extremely rich. Xiao Zhuan was mainly used in Qin and Han Dynasties. However, at that time, another font-official script was also formed.