Lishu inherited the tradition of seal script, which was the first in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and had a great influence on later calligraphy.
The evolution from seal script to official script has made Chinese characters get rid of pictographic characters and become a watershed of ancient and modern characters. This is a major change in the history of Chinese characters, which is of great significance to the development of calligraphy art. Its brushwork, writing and composition are more rigorous and concise than other calligraphy styles, making it easier for beginners to enter the world of calligraphy.
Official script is basically evolved from seal script, mainly changing the round strokes of seal script into square folds. Because it is difficult to draw round strokes on wooden slips with pigments, the official script is written faster.
Representative works:
The representative works of official script are Han Zemu, Cai, and Shi, which have been equally divided in the official script of Tang Dynasty. Among them, Han Zemu is the head of the four schools, and his masterpiece of official script is Xiyue Shenbiao.
In the pre-Qin period, seal script was the main form of calligraphy. Later, the world felt a lot of inconvenience in the use process, so they arranged to simplify the complex, change the curved painting into straight painting, and change the circle into square folding, which became a new style that was quick and easy to write. This is called official script. The Eastern Han Dynasty is the mature and heyday of official script, and its works are magnificent and gorgeous, reaching the peak of official script art.
In the Tang Dynasty, Li was famous for his seal script, but because of his shallow knowledge, his seal script style was not high. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that the art of seal script was revived.