The Historical and Practical Significance of Biography

Although Xiao Zhuan is only a glyph in the evolution of Chinese characters, it has important historical and practical significance and needs special attention.

Seal script is of special significance to the historical development of Chinese characters and even the spread of traditional culture in China. Qin Shihuang unified characters with Xiao Zhuan, which had a far-reaching impact on social development. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xu Shen wrote Shuo Wen Jie Zi based on Biography, which became the first systematic philological work and the first dictionary in the history of China, making Biography an important intermediary tool for studying, understanding and spreading culture in ancient China. Biography has made immeasurable contributions to the popularization and development of China culture.

Xiao Zhuan also plays a key role in a comprehensive and profound understanding of Chinese characters. Although Xiaozhuan is an ancient Chinese character, it has the comprehensive characteristics of ancient and modern characters. There are both the characteristics of ancient Chinese characters and the clues of modern Chinese characters. It is a key stage in the development of Chinese characters, connecting Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Jinwen, enlightening official script, regular script and modern Chinese characters. Some philologists point out that Xiao Zhuan embodies all the trends and laws of Chinese character development, and also embodies all the spirit of Chinese character configuration.

—— Quoted from "Guide to Quick Entry and Interpretation of Seal Characters"