Calligraphy in Han Dynasty is a critical period in which calligraphy gradually took shape in the transformation. Lishu is a widely used font in Han Dynasty. The appearance of official script is a major revolution in the history of calligraphy, which not only makes Chinese characters tend to be square, but also breaks through a single central pen in brushwork, laying a solid foundation for various calligraphy schools that emerged later.
Lishu is divided into ancient Chinese characters and modern Chinese characters. Ancient Chinese characters refer to Qin characters, but they are called modern Chinese characters. There is also a story in the official script that "Heaven will send a great mission to Sri Lanka". It is said that Cheng Miao, a small official of the Qin Dynasty, passed the time by studying fonts in Yunyang prison, and changed the popular font seal script into a square fold, which was convenient for writing and easy to identify. This is the origin of official script.
By the Eastern Han Dynasty, official script had entered a stage of skillful form and various schools, leaving more than 100 kinds of Han tablets, which became a model for future generations to learn official script. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, official script reached its peak and became the official font.
Extended data
Structural characteristics of official script
1, square scattered around.
The official script changed from the normal vertical position of seal script to the horizontal position, forming a flat shape, and the strokes contracted the vertical position and strengthened the horizontal exhibition.
2, pen silkworm head pen swallow tail
This is a typical feature of the pen used in official script, especially in official script, which almost always uses horizontal painting. The so-called "silkworm head" refers to hiding the (reverse) front in the process of using the pen, and at the same time writing the stroke shape formed in the process of starting the pen into a shape similar to that of the silkworm head. "Dovetail", that is, press the pen at the pen-receiving place, and then pick the pen obliquely to the upper right.
3. Turn a circle into a square and an arc into a straight one
These are two basic methods to simplify seal script in official script. But if you don't know the circle of seal script, it is not easy to master the side of official script. Because the straight painting or square folding in official script contains the arc potential of seal script, the straight of official script often has obvious ups and downs and is full of vitality. In fact, the brushwork of official script is based on the way of stroke movement.
4. Change the picture to a point and the connection to a break.
We know that there is no point in seal script, that is, the point used is just a dot. However, the points in the official script are independent, no longer attached to the painting, and the point methods are increasingly rich, including flat points, vertical points, left and right points, three points (by water) and four points (by fire).
In addition, Lishu also broke many strokes written in seal script, which opened the door to writing. Later, regular script played like this, allowing traces of cohesion between pens, and even breaking the meaning of pens.
5. Strengthen the thickness change of lifting.
In seal script, there is no trace of the vertical lifting of the pen, while the official script deliberately emphasizes the lifting, which forms a significant change in the thickness and inheritance of the stroke trajectory, and the three processes of starting, walking and collecting the pen are clearly reflected. This is very similar to later regular script.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Lishu