The ancient characters include: oracle bone inscriptions, stone drum inscriptions, small seal script, official script, regular script, etc.
1. Oracle bone inscriptions
Oracle bone inscriptions are the earliest and more systematic and mature writings seen. It was formed during the Yin and Shang Dynasties. It got its name from earlier pottery inscriptions and inscriptions on oracle bones. Because it was first discovered in the Yin Ruins in Xiaotun, Anyang, Henan, it is also called "Yin Ruins characters." It was first discovered by Wang Yirong, an epigrapher in the late Qing Dynasty, on the "dragon bone" used as a traditional Chinese medicine, and was determined to be Chinese characters.
2. Shiguwen
Zhenwen, also known as Shiguwen, is named after the book written by Taishi Zhou during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou Dynasty. He carried out reforms on the basis of the original writing. It was named after it was carved on a stone drum. It is the earliest stone-carving writing spread and is the ancestor of stone carving. The stone drum has gone through vicissitudes of life, moving south and north. After several twists and turns, most of the characters have peeled off, but only a few words are now in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing. The characteristics of his calligraphy are: his calligraphy is strong and natural, his pen is strong and straight, his structure is square, his standards are rigorous, and his form is relatively complete.
3. Xiaozhuan
Xiaozhuan, also known as Qin Zhuan, is a popular calligraphy style compiled by Prime Minister Li Si after the unification of Qin. Before the unification of the Qin Dynasty, due to the long-term geographical separation, "speech had different sounds and characters had different shapes", the writing form was very inconsistent, and the phenomenon of polymorphism of one character was very serious. For example, there are more than 20 ways to write "sheep", which brings great inconvenience to the development of economy and cultural exchanges. Therefore, while unifying the currency, train tracks, and weights and measures systems, we also focused on promoting the "books go together" policy.
4. Official script
People’s hope for writing, a tool for spreading thoughts and recording language, is that the more convenient the better, so a new font was created based on Xiaozhuan - — Official script. By the Han Dynasty, official script gradually matured and occupied a dominant position. At this time, due to the improvement of people's aesthetic awareness, official script had been written quite beautifully, leaving many famous steles, such as "Zhang Qian Stele", "Ode to Shimen" and "Cao Quan Stele" and other masterpieces of different styles, the best examples for learning official script.
5. Regular script
Official script further evolved into regular script, which is the font we use. It is richer and more complete than official script. Zhong Yao during the Three Kingdoms period was a person who made great contributions to the processing and organization of regular script. In the Tang Dynasty, culture was highly developed and calligraphy reached its peak. A large number of famous people who were good at writing regular script appeared. Such as Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang, Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan, etc.