What are the ancient scripts in China?

1. Small Seal Character

Small Seal Character, after the unification of China by Emperor Qin Shi Huang (221 years ago), to implement the policy of "books in the same language, carts in the same track", and the unification of weights and measures, by the Prime Minister Li Si was responsible for the simplification of the original seal script of the Qin Dynasty, the abolition of the other scripts of the six countries, and the creation of a unified script. The Chinese characters were written in the form of Chinese characters. It remained popular in China until the end of the Western Han Dynasty (about 8 A.D.), when it was gradually replaced by the official script.

But because of its beautiful script, it was always favored by calligraphers. And because of its complex strokes, strange and ancient forms, and the ability to add twists and turns at will, seal script was used in seal engraving, especially for official seals that needed to be protected against forgery, until the overthrow of the feudal dynasty and the emergence of new anti-counterfeiting techniques in modern times.

2, Clerical Script

Clerical Script, Qin Clerical, Han Clerical, etc., is generally considered to have developed from the seal script, the character shape is broad and flat, the horizontal painting is long and the vertical painting is short, and it is concerned with "silkworm head and goose tail" and "one wave and three twists".

According to unearthed documents, the official script was first created in the Qin Dynasty, and legend has it that Cheng Miao made the official script, and the official script of the Han Dynasty reached its peak in the Eastern Han Dynasty, which inherited the tradition of the seal script, and opened up the Wei and Jin Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and had an undeniable influence on the calligraphy of the later generations, and it is known in the calligraphy circles as the "Han Clerical Script and Tang Regular Script".

3, cursive

Cursive script, broad and narrow. Broadly speaking, regardless of the age, where the scribble of the words are counted as cursive. In the narrow sense, as a specific font, formed in the Han Dynasty, is to write simple in the scribe on the basis of the evolution of the book.

Starting around the time of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, in order to distinguish it from the new style of cursive writing at that time. The Han Dynasty cursive script is called Zhang Cao. The new style of cursive writing is relatively called jin cao, which is further divided into big grass (also known as wild grass) and small grass, which feels beautiful in the midst of wildness.

4. Regular Script

Regular Script is also called Regular Script, True Script, and Proper Script. It evolved gradually from the official script, which is more simplified, horizontal and vertical. The Dictionary explains that it is "square in form, with straight strokes, and can be used as a model". This kind of Chinese character font upright, is the modern popular Chinese character handwritten orthographic characters.

5. Running Script

Running Script is a general term for calligraphy that is divided into two types: Regular Script and Cursive Script. It originated on the basis of the Regular Script, and is a typeface between the Regular Script and the Cursive Script, which was created to make up for the slow writing speed of the Regular Script and the difficulty of recognizing the Cursive Script.

"Hsing" means "walking", so it is not as scribbly as cursive, nor as upright as regular script. In essence, it is the cursiveization of regular script or the regularization of cursive script.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Small Seal Script

Baidu Encyclopedia - Official Script

Baidu Encyclopedia - Cursive Script

Baidu Encyclopedia - Regular Script

Baidu Encyclopedia - Running Script