"Introduction to the Classification of Chinese Calligraphy" Chinese calligraphy has a long history. From the perspective of fonts, it can be divided into five types: ① Seal script (big seal script, small seal script), which is said to have begun in the pre-Qin period; ② official script, which is said to have begun in the Qin Dynasty ③ Regular script, it is said to have begun in the late Han Dynasty; ④ Running script, it is said to have begun in the late Han Dynasty; ⑤ Cursive script (Zhangcao, Jincao), it is said to have begun in the early Han Dynasty. Judging from the evolution of Chinese calligraphy fonts, what calligraphers have done and are doing is nothing more than pursuing the "simplification" and "beautification" of characters. 1. Seal script: first there is the big seal script and then there is the small seal script. ① "Oracle Bone Inscriptions": The calligraphy is fine and straight, with no hesitation or hesitation in the strokes. ② "Golden Inscriptions" or "Zhongding Wen": calligraphy gradually becomes neater, the style is round and vigorous, and the fonts are rich in changes and uneven. ③ "Shigu Wen" or "Zhen Wen": The strokes are strong and dignified, the structure is slightly square, and the style is elegant and majestic. The above-mentioned oracle bones, bronze inscriptions, and seal inscriptions were called Dazhuan in the Qin Dynasty, and later generations also called them "Gu". Afterwards, in 221 BC, Qin Shihuang unified China. In order to abolish the variations of the Six Kingdoms and unify the script, Prime Minister Li Si organized and simplified the script. Later generations called it "Xiao Zhuan" (the font is slightly longer and the strokes are neat, round and beautiful). 2. Official script: In this type of font, complexity is eliminated and simplified, the character shape is changed from round to square, the strokes are changed from curved to straight, and "continuous strokes" are changed to "broken strokes". The structure of official script is flat, neat and delicate. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, dot paintings such as squeezing and squeezing were beautified into upward provocations, with varying light and heavy pauses. 3. Regular script: also known as "zhengshu" and "zhenshu". It gradually evolved from the official script and became more simplified. The shape of the characters changed from flat to square. The strokes of the official script were simplified and the waves of the Han official script were omitted. They were horizontal and vertical, and were characterized by regularity and neatness. Regular script was popular in the Six Dynasties and reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty. 4. Running script: According to legend, it began in the late Han Dynasty. It is not as neat as regular script, and there is no draft of cursive script. Those with regular script or close to regular script in running script are called "Xingkai", and those with cursive script or close to cursive script are called "Xingcao". 5. Cursive script: "The outline of the characters is preserved, the rules of officialdom are violated, and the cursive script is called cursive script because of the meaning of cursive creation." Cursive script is divided into two types: "Zhangcao" and "Jincao". Zhangcao is a simple and fast writing style of official script, where each word is written independently and not consecutively. Jincao is a fast writing style of regular script, with flying dots and traces of strokes up and down. In the Tang Dynasty, Jincao was written more indulgently, with continuous and sweeping strokes and various character shapes. It was called "Kangcao", also known as Dacao. According to legend, Shi You first wrote the chapter and then Zhang Zhi wrote the present chapter.