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, it was originally designed for the application of slave clothes, so it is 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. The period of Emperor Huan of Han Dynasty (147- 167) and Emperor Ling of Han Dynasty (168- 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 changed the most, which was highly praised by one hundred 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. "
The calligraphy style of Han dynasty was related to the social atmosphere at that time. The official script of the Han Dynasty contains great momentum and is full of vigorous strength. The exquisite and wonderful Han Li still exudes infinite artistic charm.
The official scripts of the Han Dynasty that we see today are all preserved by carving them on stone tablets. Unfortunately, the author of Shu Dan didn't leave a name at that time, so later generations had to name it after a monument or an inscription, such as Yiying Monument, Shi Chenbei Monument, Li Monument, Confucius Monument, Shimen Monument, Huashan Monument, Cao Quanbei, Xiqiao Monument, Zhang Jingbei and Zhang Qianbei.
Calligraphy in the Han dynasty, in addition to inscriptions, also includes Han bamboo slips written on wooden boards (north) and bamboo boards (south). Han Liyuan on the chessboard is not as neat, solemn and gorgeous as the inscription, but lively, dynamic, changeable and even casual, with a sense of humor. If inscriptions are compared to meticulous brushwork, then Han bamboo slips are like freehand brushwork. The fonts in Han bamboo slips are naturally naive, careless, scrawled and even sloppy. Some of them seem to reveal the information of Jin cursive script.