Chinese characters, or characters, are written symbols that record and convey languages, and the concrete images carved or written by these symbols are fonts. Book contains the meaning of writing and font. There are many fonts in the evolution of symbols of Chinese characters. The transition of Chinese characters from pictographic pictures to abstract symbols until the formation of standardized characters has a long and continuous history, and its trajectory is distinct and vivid. The general trend is from complex to simple, from round to square, which is more convenient for writing and printing. The symbols depicting similar characters on pottery of Dawenkou culture in Shandong and Yangshao culture in Banpo, Xi 'an before 6 years are in the same strain as the later hieroglyphs.
The formation and development of Chinese characters also had a process, from pictographic characters to Qin unified characters as Xiao Zhuan, during which it experienced Xia, Shang, Zhou, Spring and Autumn, Warring States and Qin Dynasties. Represented by Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Jinwen of Yin and Zhou Dynasties, Shi Guwen, carved stone of Qin Dynasty, bamboo slips of Chu and silk books. Official script began in Qin Dynasty and flourished in Han Dynasty. During the 4 years of Han Dynasty, fonts developed rapidly, and almost all existing fonts appeared at that time. The swallow-tailed silkworm head in official script is meticulous and slow in writing, so it is not used everywhere. When writing some daily documents on bamboo slips and wooden slips that don't need to be solemn and neat, it is written in a more casual way. Is this what happened at that time? Simple script? . Formed to make writing more convenient? Zhangcao? , this one? Ok? One? Grass? , is a quick style of official script. It gradually promoted the reform of the style and form of the orthodox official script. By the time of Jin and Wei Dynasties, it was finally changed into a new orthodox script that replaced the official script? Regular script Regular script has gone through a long historical period from the germination in the late Han Dynasty to the final finalization in the Tang Dynasty, while cursive script and cursive script matured early in the Jin Dynasty.
at first, it was the development of fonts. After the fonts were established, when different fonts were used in calligraphy art, various fonts or styles were formed. Calligraphy can be divided into true (regular and regular) calligraphy, running script, cursive script, official script and seal script, etc., and its styles and schools are also diverse. Today, the common and commonly used running and regular script styles are Zhong (Yao), Erwang (Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi), Ou (Yang Xun) and Yu (Yu). Ancient Chinese characters, broadly speaking, refer to Oracle Bone Inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, bronze inscriptions and the scripts that prevailed in six countries during the Warring States Period. From Oracle Bone Inscriptions to Xiaozhuan, they are called ancient Chinese. The popular characters from Lishu to now are called Jinwen. In a narrow sense, ancient Chinese refers to the characters that prevailed during the Warring States Period.
1. Oracle Bone Inscriptions
Abbreviation of tortoise shell and animal bones. Also called? Chevin? 、? Oracle? Tortoise shell writing? 、? Yin ruins characters? . Characters used in Shang Dynasty. It has a history of 3-4 years. It was discovered in Yin Ruins (now Xiaotun Village, Anyang, Henan Province) in 1899. Later, more than 1, pieces were unearthed, and then Oracle Bone Inscriptions of the Western Zhou Dynasty was discovered in Shaanxi. Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the earliest writing we can see and the earliest calligraphy treasure in China. The total number of known words is about 46, of which 17 words are recognizable. Oracle Bone Inscriptions has not yet been fully finalized.
2. Jin Wen
is also called? Zhong Dingwen? , that is, inscriptions cast or engraved on bronze wares of Yin and Zhou Dynasties. It was popular in Shang and Zhou Dynasties (including the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period), especially in Zhou Ding. Most of the bells belong to musical instruments, and most of the ding belong to ritual vessels. The inscriptions above are all records of the emperor's decree, the princes' remarks and achievements, and the literati's praised character. More than 3, years ago. The shape of bronze inscriptions has changed with the development of the times. The bronze inscriptions in the Yin Dynasty were similar to those in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and gradually became neat and majestic in the early Zhou Dynasty, but similar to Xiao Zhuan at the end of the Warring States Period.
3. The big seal script
is also called Shu Wen. 28 years ago, Taishi Zhou Xuanwang wrote 15 pieces of Da Zhuan. Hey? Is a person's name, Taishi is an official name, so it is called? Essay? Or? Shi Wei? . Fonts overlap. Spring and Autumn Period
During the Warring States Period, it passed through the State of Qin. Shi Guwen is the representative of this font. Shi Guwen is an inscription carved on a drum-shaped stone, which is the earliest stone-carved writing in China. There are ten stone drums * * *, which are engraved with ten four-character poems as a group, and the content is to describe the hunting situation of the monarch. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, it was unearthed in Sanshuan, Tianxing (now Baoji City, Shaanxi Province). After the Five Dynasties' chaos, one stone character was wiped out, and the other nine drums were damaged.
4. Xiao Zhuan
is also called Qin Zhuan, a popular script in Qin Dynasty, which was developed and formed on the basis of the script about 2,2 years ago. The font is simplified by the script. After Qin Shihuang unified China, Li Si's opinion was adopted, and a unified writing policy was implemented, with Xiao Zhuan as the orthography and other variant characters eliminated. Xiao Zhuan's shape is even and neat, and there are "Langya Terrace Carving Stone" and "Taishan Carving Stone". The Qin Dynasty was dominated by seal script, which was divided into eight styles in Qin Shu according to their uses, namely, the big seal script, the small seal script, the engraving script, the insect script, the copying script, the official script, the official script and the official script. There are only three kinds of Chinese characters: Da Zhuan, Xiao Zhuan and Gu Li.
5. Official script
is a font simplified and evolved from seal script, which changes the round strokes of seal script into square folds, and changes the pictograph into strokes in structure, so as to facilitate writing. It began in Qin dynasty and was widely used in Han and Wei dynasties. Jin Wei Heng's "Four-body Book Potential" said:? Since the Qin dynasty used seal script, there were many things to play, and seal script was difficult to achieve, even if the official (referring to petty officials) made a book, it was called official script. ? Cheng Miao collected and sorted out this style of writing at that time, and later generations had the legend that Cheng Miao created official script. In terms of font structure, there were many characters in seal script in the early stage, and then it developed into two fonts with completely different strokes and structures from seal script, which broke the tradition of six scripts and laid the foundation for regular script, marking a turning point in the evolution history of Chinese characters.
6. cursive script
A font produced for convenient writing. It began in the early Han Dynasty, when the official script was sloppy. Later developed into? Zhangcao? . The exact time when cursive script came into being is still inconclusive. Cai Yong of the later Han Dynasty said. At the time of the Qin Dynasty, the princes fought for a long time, and it was passed down from generation to generation. They looked forward to the peak and went to the post. Because it was difficult to save the speed, they made a book in a hurry and covered this cursive script. ? In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Huaiguan said in the Ten-Style Book Break:? During the Han and Yuan emperors, Shi You made a hasty chapter? This is the outline of saving words, which damages the rules of the official. I will rush to escape and go to the first aid quickly. Because of the original meaning, I cursive it. ? The cursive script has a chapter grass first, and then there is today's grass.
Zhang Cao: Zhang Huaiguan said? Zhangcao is the triumph of official script, and grass is also the triumph of Zhangcao. ? The characteristic of Zhangcao is that calligraphy and painting have waves (broken waves and pen strokes), and there is no connection between words.
jincao: according to legend, did Zhang zhi take it off? Zhangcao? The strokes and strokes between the upper and lower characters of the official script preserved in the book are often linked and borrowed from each other, becoming? Today grass? , which is commonly called cursive script.
kuangcao: in the Tang dynasty, Zhang Xu and Huai Su will? Today grass? Writing is more indulgent, the brushwork is continuous and winding, and the glyph changes a lot, becoming a wild grass.
7. Regular script
is also called? The real book? 、? Block letters? 、? Real books? . In order to correct the careless cursive script, and save the twists and turns in han li. The figure is square and the strokes are straight, so it can be a model, hence the name. It started at the end of Han Dynasty and prevailed in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and it has been popular until now. According to legend, Zhong You of the Three Kingdoms made great contributions to the processing and arrangement of regular script.
8. Running script
After the official script became official script, the official script became grassy and modular, and at the same time, an intermediate script, namely running script, appeared. Running script is a kind of calligraphy between regular script and cursive script. Its structure and stippling are close to regular script, and its brushwork is natural, smooth and simple in cursive script. It is more convenient and flexible to write than regular script, and clearer and easier to argue than cursive script, so it is widely welcomed by people and is still the most popular font today. According to legend, the running script was created by Liu Desheng, a calligrapher at the end of Han Dynasty. In fact, before that, it had sprouted for a long time.