Therefore, the official script of the Eastern Han Dynasty entered a stage of skillful brushwork and various schools. Among the more than 100 kinds of Han steles left behind, it presents a dazzling and brilliant style. At the same time of the maturity of official script, there was a change in the division of official script, which developed into Cao Zhang, running script and original work. The constant change and development of calligraphy laid the foundation for the smooth cursive movement and the wild cursive movement in the Jin Dynasty. In addition, inscriptions on bronze and seal script declined gradually because of their decreasing practical use, but they were still used in seals, tiles and Jialiang in Han Dynasty, which made seal script unique. Kang Youwei once said: "In the Qin and Han Dynasties, Wadang's prose was both cheap and flat, and his brushwork was enough to get married." ("Guang Yi and Zhou Shuang talk about points") gives a more appropriate evaluation.
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.