What are the characteristics of the evolution of Chinese characters?

The evolution of Chinese characters can be summarized in four stages: oracle bone script, gold script, official script and regular script.

1. Oracle Bone Script Period (14th century BC - 3rd century BC): Oracle Bone Script is a kind of script from the Yin and Shang Dynasties, which was mainly carved on tortoise shells and animal bones. The oracle bone script is complex in form, with many morpho-sound and ideograms. Oracle bone writing is characterized by ancient forms, rough lines and stable structure.

2. Jinwen Period (3rd century BC-1st century AD): Jinwen is a kind of script after Qin and Han, mainly engraved on bronze. Compared with oracle bone inscriptions, the lines of Jinwen are more fluent, the structure is more complete, and the characters are more regular.

3. Official Script Period (2nd century AD - 3rd century AD): Official Script evolved from the Small Seal Script during the Qin and Han Dynasties, and was a standardized calligraphic script, which became the representative script for official documents and calligraphic art because of its smooth strokes and neat structure.

4. Regular Script Period (3rd century AD to present): Regular Script evolved from Clerical Script, which is the main font for writing modern Chinese characters. The regular script has a neat and upright shape, smooth strokes, stable structure, and beautiful form.

In general, during the evolution of Chinese characters, the structure of the characters has gradually become more stable and standardized, and the font has become more and more beautiful and fluent. However, at each stage, there are many changes and innovations in the form of Chinese characters, which are constantly developing and evolving, reflecting the historical and cultural inheritance and artistic charm of Chinese characters.