Seal script:
Zhuan script
Zhuan script, one of the ancient calligraphy styles of Chinese characters, is also called seal script. It is a general term for ancient writing. "The seal script is passed down, its physics is transmitted, and its application is endless." The ancients believed that the seal script was created by Cangjie, but this is actually untrustworthy. The emergence of a kind of writing requires a long process of brewing and development, and it is impossible for one person to complete it in a short period of time. The broad seal script includes all calligraphy styles before the official script and its extensions, such as bronze inscriptions, stone drum inscriptions, ancient script of the Six Kingdoms, small seal script, Miao seal script, overlapping seal script, etc. In the narrow sense, it mainly refers to "big seal script" and "small seal script". The characters in the seal script are drawn in circles, and the structure follows the meaning of the six books. Therefore, Sun Guoting of the Tang Dynasty said: "The seal script is graceful and clear."
History
During the Yin and Zhou dynasties, the inscriptions cast on bells, tripods and Yi vessels, known as bronze inscriptions, also known as bells and tripods, were widely popular. After the unification of Qin Shihuang, they were collectively called Xiaozhuan, also known as Qin Zhuan. The so-called seal script is actually a seal script, which is an official letter. It is a standardized common font for official documents. According to the literature. Before the Qin Dynasty, there was no special name for Chinese calligraphy. Xiaozhuan gradually evolved from the Qin characters in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Because it is an official document. Xiaozhuan is only suitable for solemn occasions. Such as recording merit and carving stone. Uncle Liangzhao version. Soldier and Tiger Talisman and the like. The style of standard seal script is neatly arranged. The strokes are round and round. The lines are smooth and long. Presenting a solemn and beautiful style. Compared with oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions, it has the following basic characteristics: the glyphs are slender. And the tight drawing extends downward. It creates a visual illusion of dense top and sparse bottom. This is also related to the top-down organizational layout. The lines are well-proportioned regardless of the length of the stippling. The strokes are uniform in thickness. This is in intensity. The speed is very smooth. These two characteristics give people a pure and simple aesthetic. In addition, the font structure tends to be simple and fixed. The compositional layout of Xiaozhuan script can form a sequence of vertical and horizontal lines. Qin seal script has round and square pens. The round pen is represented by Qin carved stone. Fangbi is represented by Qin Zhao's copyright. It is the popular style of Qin seal script. The period between Han and Wei was the end of Qin Zhuan's power. In addition to being used for inscriptions, seals and identification of objects. It is rare to have an independent seal script. Tang seal. He was revived because of Li Yangbing's appearance. The rich and majestic spirit of Ren Qin Seal has disappeared. The epigraphy of Song Dynasty and the retro calligraphy style of Yuan Dynasty. There has been a slight surge in the use of seal scripts. There are many people who are famous for their seal scripts, but they lack the power to surpass them. The style of Chengyuan in the Ming Dynasty. The steps tend to be flat. The seal script of the Qing Dynasty is full of flowers. Entered the stage of great prosperity that pushed the Tang Dynasty over the Qin Dynasty.
Typeface classification
大篆
Da Zhuan refers to bronze inscriptions, Zhou inscriptions and Six Kingdoms scripts, which preserve the obvious characteristics of ancient hieroglyphs. Small seal script, also known as "Qin seal script", is the common script of the Qin Dynasty. It is a simplified font of large seal script. It is characterized by an even and neat shape and a font that is easier to write than Zhenwen. In the history of the development of Chinese characters, it is the transition between the large seal script and the regular script.
In the late Western Zhou Dynasty, Chinese characters developed into large seal scripts. The development of large seal script resulted in two characteristics: first, linearization. The uneven thickness of the early lines became even and soft, and the lines they drew with the actual objects were very concise and vivid; second, standardization, the glyph structure tended to be neat, and gradually left the The original form of the picture laid the foundation for the square characters. The big seal script is for the later small seal script. The broad seal script includes small seal script, the former oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions and Six Kingdoms scripts. The big seal here refers to the Qin characters that were popular during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Because King Ping of Zhou moved east to Luoyang, Qin occupied the old place of the Western Zhou Dynasty and also inherited the writing of the Western Zhou Dynasty, which was developed from the inheritance of bronze inscriptions. Regional, some are difficult to identify.
Big seal script, also known as zhòu (zhòu). It was named after it was recorded in the calligraphy book "Shi Zhou Pian". "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi": "Fifteen chapters of "Shi Zhou" were written by Zhou Dynasty Wang Taishi Zhou." "Shuowen" retains 225 Zhou texts, which are nine of the "Shi Zhou" that Xu Shen saw based on This chapter collects the main materials for our study of seal script today.
The authentic seal script is generally considered to be the "Shiguwen". In the early Tang Dynasty, a piece of stone about three feet in diameter was unearthed in Nanzhichou, Chencang County, Tianxing County (now Fengxiang County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province. Fengxiang County was called Yongcheng in ancient times. It was the capital of the pre-Qin period for more than 400 years and has a large number of pre-Qin cultural relics). The bottom is large, with round tops and flat bottoms like steamed buns. There are ten drum-like stone dunzi. Engraved on it are ten four-character poems written by Qin Xiangong in the eleventh year. They are the earliest inscribed stone characters in our country. They have been lost and found again, and lost again. There were more than 700 words in the original engraving, and more than 300 words are now available. These ten stones are now in the Forbidden City.
Because the content records hunting events, it was named "Liejie or Yongyi Carved Stone". Tang poet Wei Yingwu thought that the shape of the stone resembled a drum, so he renamed it "Shigu Wen" and it is now the representative of large seal script.
小篆
After Qin Shihuang unified China (221 BC), Xiaozhuan implemented the policy of "writing with the same text and carriages with the same track" and unifying weights and measures. The prime minister Li Si was in charge of it. On the basis of the large seal script originally used in China, it was simplified, canceled the variant characters of other six countries, and created a unified Chinese character writing form. It was popular in China until the end of the Western Han Dynasty (about 8 AD), and was gradually replaced by official script. But because of its beautiful font, it has always been favored by calligraphers.