Development of official script
According to legend, the official script was compiled by Cheng Miao who was not in the prison of Qin Dynasty. By eliminating complexity and simplifying, the font becomes round and square, and the strokes become straight. Changing "Lian Bi" into "broken pen" and changing lines into strokes makes writing more convenient. Li people are not prisoners, but petty officials, that is, small officials in charge of documents, so they were called in ancient times. Lishu prevailed in Han Dynasty and became the main style of calligraphy. As a start-up Qin Li, seal script has many meanings, and it has been continuously developed and processed. 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 "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", the official script of the Han Dynasty gradually developed into the dominant script, and at the same time, cursive script, regular script and running script were derived, laying the foundation for art.
In the past, it was generally believed that the origin of official script was "playing many things, but it was difficult to seal, that is, official script was called official script". However, it has recently been pointed out that the word "Li" also means "affiliated" and may be a derivative of seal script.
According to legend, there was a disciple named Cheng Miao in Qin Dynasty who was imprisoned for offending Qin Shihuang. Cheng Miao saw that it was very troublesome for prison officials to write Yao cards with seal script at that time, so he carried out reforms, simplified the complex, rounded the square and created new fonts. Qin Shihuang saw it and appreciated it. Not only did he absolve himself of his sins, but he also made him an empire and used this font in official prisons. Because Cheng Miao is a slave, and at first it was specially for slaves, so it was called official script. There may be many indirect factors in this story. In fact, just like the emergence of calligraphy, official script is created by many people over a long period of time, and what Cheng Miao did was probably to sort out his works.
According to the archaeological materials, the characters on some wooden signs and bamboo slips in the Warring States and Qin Dynasties tend to simplify seal script, reduce strokes, change the font into square flat and use wave pen. This is the bud of official script. In the Western Han Dynasty, the elements of Li style in calligraphy were further increased. Lao Zi, a silk painting of the Western Han Dynasty unearthed in Mawangdui, Changsha, has obvious official meaning. Lishu matured in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Emperor Huan of Han Dynasty (147? 167), Emperor Han Ling (168? The era of 189 was the heyday of official script.
The appearance of official script is a great change in the history of calligraphy and even writing. Since then, calligraphy has bid farewell to ancient Chinese characters that lasted for more than 3,000 years and opened modern Chinese characters. The structure of Chinese characters no longer has the pictographic meaning of ancient Chinese characters, but is completely symbolic. Official script is a qualitative change and transition, connecting the preceding with the following, seal script and regular script. As a kind of calligraphy art, it broke the limitation of single stroke in the original seal script and has undergone very rich changes. Ancestors called the writing style of seal script "jade chopsticks", that is, jade chopsticks, which are horizontal, flat and vertical, even and round. The structure of words is very strict and rarely changes. Official script is not like this. Its points are clear, the shades are clear, and the wave paintings have swallowtail silkworm heads, which are full of twists and turns. Use a pen wisely and comprehensively, or Fiona Fang can do both. The knot is steep and ups and downs, or vigorous and powerful, or beautiful and neat, or round and charming, or stick to the palace, dignified and dignified, or open and close freely, flying with high spirits, which can be described as ever-changing and extreme. This is really a magnificent chapter in the history of calligraphy. Close friend Kang Youwei spoke highly of Han Li. He wrote in "Two Boats in Guangyi": "The books in the Han Dynasty were not prosperous, not only high in spirit, but also the most varied system, which has been highly respected for hundreds of generations. Du Du worked as a grass, Cai Yong as a flying white, and Liu Desheng as a running script, all of whom were Han Chinese. The late season comes true, and future generations can't go outside. It has become extremely difficult to establish a system by the Han Dynasty. "