From the perspective of historical development, the official script of Qin and Han Dynasties can be divided into two important periods: Guli period and Jinli period. Ancient official script, also known as Qin official script, is the initial period of official script, which refers to official script from Qin dynasty to early Han dynasty. Jin Li, also known as Han Li, is the mature and prosperous period of official script, which refers to the official script in the Eastern Han Dynasty and is the main representative of official script.
The origin of official script can be traced back to the Warring States period. On Chu silk books and bamboo slips in the Warring States period, there were scrawled, flat and simple fonts. At that time, there were also simplified Chinese characters on seals, coins, pottery, bronzes and stone carvings that broke the pen and structure of seal script, which can be said to be the forerunner of Gu Li. Qin bamboo slips unearthed in Yunmeng Crouching Tiger Land, Hubei Province are representative, which contain a large number of seal script styles and brushwork. It is between turning away and turning away, and it has completely broken through the shackles of Qin Zhuan, so it is natural to write casually. Its characteristics are: reducing inflections, simplifying simplification, making the circle square, changing the shape from narrow to square, and some characters also have the embryonic form of silkworm head and disc tail.
The early Western Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, including the writing system, so there is not much difference between the official script of the Western Han Dynasty and the official script of the Qin Dynasty. At that time, official script still had the meaning of seal script, but it was obviously weakened. The circle is gradually changed into a square fold, some fonts are square, and there are strokes that are inverted into the flat, silkworm head and silkworm tail, and picked up. The thickness of strokes changes obviously, and the shape is simple and heavy. At present, the earliest cliff stone carvings seen in the Western Han Dynasty are carved by ministers, carved by Wufeng and carved by Lai Zihou, which are the representative works of Lishu in the Western Han Dynasty.
The stone carving of Shangchen is located at the top of Beizhu Mountain in Wuzhuang Village, Yonghe Hui Town, Yongnian District, Handan City, Hebei Province. The stone carving of Shangchen is carved on the narrow and irregular natural fine red sandstone surface connected with the mountain, with a height of 150cm and a width of 52 cm. The literal height of the stone is 120cm, and the width is 8 cm, which inclines according to the mountain. Engraved with the words "Bing Yin's ministers praised this stone in August of the 22nd year of Zhao", it is synonymous with reward, which means drinking for a long time. "Twenty-two years of Zhao" is the calendar year of Zhao Wang Sui in the Western Han Dynasty, that is, six years after Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty (Liu Heng) (BC 158).
As the earliest cliff stone carving in the Western Han Dynasty, Shangshu Reward Carving Stone has attracted people's attention and scholars' exploration because of its economic, cultural, artistic and cultural values. The calligraphy style of "Carving Stones by Officials" is characterized by simplicity, simplicity, up and down, and easy to write. It is a typical embodiment of the calligraphy style at the turn of Qin and Han Dynasties, so it is precious and a national treasure.
Yu Youren and Qi Shuyu collected rubbings of stone carvings awarded by the Minister.
"Ministers are hired to carve stones" Carved stones:
Ministers were hired to carve stones.
Wufeng Stone Carving, also known as Luchi Stone Carving, was founded in the second year of Wufeng (the first 56 years) and now exists in the Confucius Temple in Qufu, Shandong. This tablet has been peeling off for a long time, but the official script is ancient, square, dense, strange in brushwork, easy to round into a square, informal in thickness and natural in composition, which is the style of the official script when it was changed.
Five phoenix carved stones:
Extension of the original monument of "Five Phoenix Carvings"
Original tablet of "Five Phoenix Carvings"
Yu Youren and Qi Shuyu collected five rubbings of Phoenix stone carvings.
Xin Mang Tianfeng three years (AD 16) carved Lai Zihou stone carving, official script 7 lines, bound into a book. Now Mengfu, Zouxian County, Shandong Province. Fine brushwork, no silkworm Kubinashi silkworm tail, broad structure, simple and clumsy atmosphere. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the official script was fully mature.
Lishu entered the Eastern Han Dynasty and reached its peak. The official script of the Eastern Han Dynasty changed from the official script of the Qin Dynasty and the official script of the Western Han Dynasty, and began to consciously pursue neatness and beauty. Pointillism is characterized by clear wave (zhé), no seal meaning at all, flat and square structure, increasingly rigorous and precise, clear wave (zhé), so it is also called "eight-point book" and is regarded as a model of official script. Regarding the official script, Mr. Hu Xiaoshi said in "A Brief Discussion on Calligraphy": "When the official script is completed, if waves and embellishments are gradually added, it will be eight points." This sentence not only explains these eight points, but also summarizes the main characteristics of Han Li, that is, the left side is comfortable, the right side is open, and the other side is open. The Eastern Han Dynasty was the heyday of official script and the peak of its development. During this period, the wind of erecting monuments was extremely prosperous, and a large number of folk calligraphers emerged. These monuments are colorful and beautiful. The book body or straight tail is stable and should be standardized; Or stretch gorgeous, dazzling; Or cut solemnly, rich and dense; Or the adventure is steep, and the male is arrogant.
There has always been a saying that Cheng Miao created official script. From the materialistic point of view, a new font is far from being created by a person's ability, and it can never be completed in a period of time. It is accumulated, summarized and created through the efforts of several generations or even generations. Cheng Miao can be regarded as one of them, or a representative figure. He sorted out, collected and summarized the official script, and made certain contributions to its popularization and application.
The calligraphers who were good at writing official script in Han Dynasty were Wang Cizhong, Cai Yong, Shi, Zhong You, Liang You, Guo Xiangcha, Qiu Jing, Qiu Yi and Zhu Deng. However, a large number of wonderful Han steles did not leave the author's name, which is probably related to the low status of calligraphers. In the history of China's calligraphy, there are also the Jinwen period and Beibei calligraphy period. It's a pity that many calligraphers with excellent calligraphy skills didn't leave their names. However, their exquisite calligraphy skills and wonderful calligraphy have been circulated for a long time because of the inscriptions.
The Han Dynasty is the foundation of traditional culture in China, and it is also a crucial era for the development of calligraphy. It is characterized by creating an atmosphere of calligraphy culture, a large number of calligraphers and well-prepared calligraphy styles.
Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Jinwen, Shi Guwen and Qin Zhuan were the ancient writing stages of China's calligraphy, and the appearance of official script opened the apex of modern writing. Therefore, official script has become a watershed between ancient and modern characters. Lishu is a turning point in the history of calligraphy development in China, which completely changed the face of ancient Chinese characters before Xiao Zhuan, and made Chinese characters further stippling and symbolizing. The stereotype of official script is called "official change", which is another great change in the history of China calligraphy after Qin Shihuang unified the six countries. Different from the official script, it changed the multi-circle of official script into the multi-fold of official script, changed the vertical length into the width and flatness, and consciously used exaggeration to add Chinese decoration. Therefore, the official script is fully mature and the period is coming. It is considered to be the arrival of the conscious period of calligraphy.