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Oracle bone inscriptions mainly refer to the oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin Ruins. They were carved (or written) on tortoise shells and animal inscriptions by the royal family in the late Shang Dynasty (14th to 11th century BC) for divination and recording. Writings on Bones. It is the earliest text with a relatively complete system among the ancient texts discovered in China.
Oracle bone inscriptions are an ancient Chinese script, considered an early form of modern Chinese characters, and sometimes considered one of the calligraphy styles of Chinese characters. It is also the oldest mature script in China. Oracle bone inscriptions are also called deed inscriptions, tortoise shell inscriptions or tortoise shell and animal bone inscriptions. Oracle bone inscriptions are a very important ancient Chinese character material. Most of the oracle bone inscriptions were found in the Yin Ruins. The Yin Ruins are famous ruins from the Yin and Shang era, located in Xiaotun Village, Huayuanzhuang, Houjiazhuang and other places in the northwest of Anyang City, Henan Province. This place was once the location of the capital of the Central Dynasty in the late Yin and Shang Dynasties, so it is called Yin Ruins. These oracle bones are basically divination records of the rulers of the Shang Dynasty. The rulers of the Shang Dynasty were very superstitious, such as whether there would be disaster within ten days, whether it would rain, whether there would be a good harvest of crops, whether the war would be won, which sacrifices should be made to ghosts and gods, and whether fertility, disease, etc. Divination is needed to understand the will of ghosts and gods and the good or bad luck of events. The materials used for divination are mainly the plastron and carapace of tortoises and the shoulder blades of cattle. Usually, some small holes are dug or drilled on the back of the oracle bones that are to be used for divination. Such small holes are called "drilling" by oracle bone scientists. During divination, heating these small pits will cause cracks on the surface of the oracle bones. This kind of crack is called a "sign". The word "divination" in oracle bone inscriptions for divination looks like a omen. People who engage in divination judge good or bad fortune based on the various shapes of divination signs. Judging from the oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, Chinese characters at that time had developed into a writing system that could be complete and used in the Chinese language. In the oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin Ruins that have been discovered, the number of single words that appear has reached about 4,000. There are a large number of characters referring to things, pictographic characters, knowing characters, and many pictophonetic characters. There is a huge difference in appearance between these characters and the characters we use today. But from the perspective of word formation methods, the two are basically the same.
Currently, about 150,000 oracle bones and more than 4,500 single characters have been discovered. The contents recorded in these oracle bone inscriptions are extremely rich and involve many aspects of social life in the Shang Dynasty, including not only politics, military, culture, social customs, etc., but also science and technology such as astronomy, calendar, medicine, etc. Judging from the approximately 1,500 single characters that have been identified in oracle bone inscriptions, it already possesses the character creation methods of "pictogram, meaning, pictophonetic, referring to things, annotation, and borrowing", showing the unique charm of Chinese characters. Documents based on tortoise shells and animal bones from China's Shang Dynasty and early Western Zhou Dynasty (approximately 16th century BC to 10th century BC). It is the earliest known form of Chinese literature. The characters engraved on armor and bones were previously called deeds, oracle bone inscriptions, oracle inscriptions, tortoise edition inscriptions, Yinxu inscriptions, etc., and are now commonly known as oracle bone inscriptions. Due to superstition, the emperors of the Shang and Zhou dynasties used tortoise shells (the most common ones were tortoise shells) or animal bones (the most common ones were the ox shoulder blades) for divination. The omen results, verification status, etc.) were engraved on the oracle bones and kept as archival materials by the royal historian (see Oracle Bone Archives). In addition to the inscriptions on divination, there are also a few inscriptions on oracle bones to record events. The contents of the oracle bone documents involve astronomy, calendar, meteorology, geography, country, lineage, family, characters, officials, conquests, prisons, agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, transportation, religion, sacrifices, diseases, fertility, disasters, etc. It is extremely precious first-hand information for studying the social history, culture, language and characters of ancient China, especially the Shang Dynasty.
Bronze inscriptions refer to the characters engraved on the bronzes of the Yin and Zhou dynasties, also called bells and tripods. The Shang and Zhou dynasties were the age of bronzes. The ritual vessels of bronzes were represented by tripods, and the musical instruments were represented by bells. "Zhongding" is synonymous with bronzes. Therefore, bell and tripod inscriptions or bronze inscriptions refer to the inscriptions cast or engraved on bronze vessels.
The so-called bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. China had already entered the Bronze Age in the Xia Dynasty, and the smelting of copper and the manufacturing of bronze wares were very developed.
Because copper was also called gold before the Zhou Dynasty, the inscriptions on the bronzes were called "jinwen" or "jinjinwen"; and because this type of bronzes had the largest number of characters on bells and tripods, they were also called "zhongdingwen" in the past. ".
The period when bronze inscriptions were used ranged from the early Shang Dynasty to the Qin Dynasty when it destroyed the Six Kingdoms, about 1,200 years ago. The number of characters in bronze inscriptions, according to Rong Geng's "Inscriptions on Bronze Inscriptions", totals 3,722, of which 2,420 are identifiable.
The number of words in the inscriptions on the bronze vessels varies. The content recorded is also very different. Most of its main contents are to praise the achievements of ancestors and princes, and also record major historical events. For example, the famous Mao Gong Ding has 497 characters, covering a wide range of events, reflecting the social life at that time.
The large seal script represents the surviving stone drum inscriptions, which are named after the script written by Taishi Chen during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou Dynasty. He carried out reforms on the basis of the original writing, which was named after it was carved on a stone drum. It is the earliest stone-engraved writing that has been handed down to this day, and is the ancestor of stone carving.
It began in the late Western Zhou Dynasty and spread in the Qin State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The font is similar to Qin seal script, but the configuration of the glyphs often overlaps.
Xiaozhuan Xiaozhuan is also called "Qin Zhuan". During the Qin Dynasty, Li Si was ordered to unify the script, and this script was Xiaozhuan. Popular in the Qin Dynasty. The shape is relatively long, evenly rounded and neat, and it is derived from the large seal script. Xu Shen of the Eastern Han Dynasty wrote in "Shuowen Jiezi·Xu": "The first emperor of Qin conquered the world at the beginning,... let alone those who did not agree with Qin Wen." Li Si wrote the "Cangjie Pian", and Zhao Gao, the magistrate of Zhongche Mansion, wrote the "Ai Li Pian" , Taishi ordered Hu Wujing to write the "Erudition Chapter": "All of them are based on the large seal script of Shi Zhen, or some provincial changes, the so-called small seal script." Today there are (Langyatai Stone Carving) and the remaining stones of "Taishan Carving Stone", which are the representative works of small seal script.
The small seal script engraved on Qin Quan is said to have been written by Li Si. After Qin Shihuang unified China, he 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 by China, it was simplified, canceled the variant characters of other six countries, and created a unified Chinese character writing form. It remained popular in China until the end of the Western Han Dynasty, when it was gradually replaced by official script. But because of its beautiful font, it has always been favored by calligraphers. And because its strokes are complex, its form is ancient, and twists and turns can be added at will, seals were carved in seal script, especially official seals that required anti-counterfeiting, until the fall of the feudal dynasty and the emergence of new anti-counterfeiting technology in modern times. All characters in the Kangxi dictionary are also written in Xiaozhuan.
Official script is basically evolved from seal script. It mainly changes the round strokes of seal script into square folds, which makes the writing speed faster. It is difficult to draw round strokes when writing on wooden slips with lacquer.
Official script is also called "official script" and "ancient script". It is a font based on seal script and produced to meet the needs of convenient writing. Simplify the small seal script, and change the evenly rounded lines of the small seal script into straight and square strokes, making it easier to write. It is divided into "Qin Li" (also called "Ancient Li") and "Han Li" (also called "Modern Li"). The emergence of official script is a major change in ancient writing and calligraphy.
Official script is a common solemn font in Chinese characters. The writing effect is slightly wide and flat, with long horizontal strokes and short straight strokes. It pays attention to "silkworm head and swallow tail" and "twists and turns". It originated in the Qin Dynasty and reached its peak in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is known as "Han Li Tang Kai" in the calligraphy circle. It is also said that official script originated during the Warring States Period.
Official script is relative to seal script, and the name of official script originated from the Eastern Han Dynasty. The emergence of official script was another major reform of Chinese characters, which brought Chinese calligraphy art into a new realm. It was a turning point in the history of the evolution of Chinese characters and laid the foundation for regular script. The structure of official script is flat, neat and delicate. By the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, pointillisms such as strokes and strokes were transformed into upward strokes, with varying light and heavy pauses, and the beauty of calligraphy art. The styles are also becoming more diverse, which is of great value for artistic appreciation.
It is said that the official script was compiled by Cheng Miao of Qin Dynasty in prison. He eliminated the complexity and simplified it. The characters changed from round to square, and the strokes changed from curved to straight. Change "continuous strokes" to "broken strokes" and move from lines to strokes, making it easier to write. "Liren" is not a prisoner, but refers to a "subordinate official", that is, a small official in charge of documents. Therefore, in ancient times, the official script was called "zuoshu". Official script became popular in the Han Dynasty and became the main style of writing.
As the first Qin Li, many seal meanings were left, which were continuously developed and processed later. It broke the writing tradition since Zhou and Qin Dynasties and gradually laid the foundation for regular script. Under the unification of the idea of ??"deposing hundreds of schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", the official script of the Han Dynasty gradually developed and became the dominant calligraphy style. At the same time, cursive script, regular script, and running script were derived, laying the foundation for art.
Regular script is also called regular script, or true script. Its characteristics are: square shape and straight strokes, which can be used as a model, hence the name. It began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. There are many famous regular script writers, such as "Ou Ti" (Ouyang Xun, Tang Dynasty), "Yu Ti" (Yu Shinan, Tang Dynasty), "Yan Ti" (Yan Zhenqing, Tang Dynasty), "Liu Ti" (Liu Gongquan, Tang Dynasty), "Zhao Ti" (Song and Yuan Dynasties-Zhao Mengfu) and so on.
In the early period of "regular script", there are still very few official scripts left. The structure is slightly wider, with long horizontal strokes and short straight strokes. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties handed down, such as Zhong Yao's "Declaration Table" ( Pictured on the left), "Jian Ji Zhi Biao", Wang Xizhi's "Le Yi Lun", "Huang Ting Jing", etc., can be regarded as representative works. Looking at its characteristics, as Weng Fanggang said: "The wave painting of the official script is changed, and the horizontal and straight lines of the ancient official script are still retained."
After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the north and the south were divided, and calligraphy was also divided into two schools. The Northern style calligraphy has the legacy of the Han Dynasty. The writing style is clumsy and vigorous, but the style is simple and strict. It is better than the list book. This is the so-called Wei stele. Southern calligraphy is more sparse, graceful and subtle, and is better than rulers and tablets. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to regional differences, personal habits and calligraphy styles were very different. The northern books are strong and the southern books are borrowed from each other. Each one is perfect and there is no distinction between superior and inferior. However, Bao Shichen and Kang Youwei strongly praised the books of the two dynasties, especially the stele style of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Kang cited ten beautiful things to emphasize the advantages of Wei stele.
The regular script of the Tang Dynasty is like the prosperity of the country in the Tang Dynasty, which is truly unprecedented. The style of calligraphy has matured and calligraphers have emerged in large numbers. In terms of regular script, Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun, and Chu Suiliang in the early Tang Dynasty, Yan Zhenqing in the mid-Tang Dynasty, and Liu Gongquan in the late Tang Dynasty were all valued by later generations and regarded as models for calligraphy practice.
Running script is a font between regular script and cursive script. It can be said to be the cursive version of regular script or the regular script version of cursive script. It was created to make up for the slow writing speed of regular script and the difficulty of legibility of cursive script. The writing style is not as sloppy as cursive script, nor does it require regular script to be as straight. Those with more regular script than cursive script are called "Xingkai". Those with more cursive than regular script are called "Xingcao". Running script was produced around the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Cursive Script Cursive Script: A style of writing for Chinese characters. It was formed in the Han Dynasty and evolved on the basis of official script for the convenience of writing. There are Zhangcao, Jincao and Kuangcao. There are rules and regulations to follow when making changes in Zhangcao's strokes. Representative works include the Songjiang version of Wu Huangxiang's "Jijiuzhang" of the Three Kingdoms. Jincao's writing style is informal and smooth, and his representative works include "Chu Yue" and "De Shi" written by Wang Xizhi of the Jin Dynasty. Kuangcao appeared in the Tang Dynasty, represented by Zhang Xu and Huaisu, with wild and uninhibited writing styles, and became an artistic creation that was completely divorced from practicality. From then on, cursive script was just a calligraphy work that calligraphers copied from Zhangcao, Jincao and Kuangcao. Representative works include Zhang Xu's "Belly Pain" and Huai Su's "Autobiography". Cursive script is a font created for the convenience of writing. It began in the early Han Dynasty. What was commonly used at that time was "Cao Li", that is, scrawled official script. Later, it gradually developed into a kind of "Zhang Cao" with artistic value. At the end of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhi changed "Zhangcao" to "Jincao", and the style of the characters was formed in one stroke. In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Xu and Huai Su developed "Kang Cao" with continuous and convoluted strokes and numerous changes in glyphs.