Small seal script
| Small seal script | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | |
Period | c. 500 BC – c. 200 AD |
| Languages | Old Chinese |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | (Proto-writing)
|
Child systems | Clerical script |
| Small seal script | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 小篆 | ||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | small seal | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Qin script | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 秦篆 | ||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Qin seal | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
The small seal script is an archaic script style of written Chinese. It developed within the state of Qin during the Eastern Zhou dynasty (771–256 BC), and was then promulgated across China in order to replace script varieties used in other ancient Chinese states following Qin's wars of unification and establishment of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) under Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China.
History
Before Qin's wars of unification, local variation in Chinese character forms had evolved independently of one another for centuries, producing the 'scripts of the six states' (六國文字), all of which were referred to later as large seal script.[1] Under a more unified regime, the variance was considered unacceptable in its hindrance of timely communications, trade, taxation, and transportation, as well as being potential vectors for fomenting political dissent.[2]Afterwards, Qin Shi Huang mandated the systematic unification of weights, measures, currencies, etc., and the use of a standard writing script. Characters which were different from those found in Qin were discarded, and Qin's small seal characters became the standard for all regions within the empire. This policy became effective in around 220 BC, the year after Qin's unification of the Chinese states.[3]
Standardization
The standardized use of small seal characters was promulgated via the Cangjiepian primer compiled by Qin Shi Huang's ministers—namely his chancellor Li Si. This compilation, which was claimed to include 3,300 characters, is no longer extant, and is known only through Chinese commentaries over the centuries. Several hundred characters from fragmented commentaries were collected during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), and recent archeological excavations in Anhui have uncovered several hundred more on bamboo strips, showing the order of the characters.[citation needed] However, the script found was not the small seal script, as the discovery dates back to the Han period.[citation needed]
Encoding
The small seal script was initially proposed for inclusion in Unicode in 2015. The 723-page proposal lists many of the best-known examples of Qing-era commentary images.[4] As of April 2020[update], the proposal remains under discussion.
References
- ^ "Seal Script". Retrieved 2023-09-28.
- ^ Galambos, Imre (2004). "The Myth of the Qin Unification of Writing in Han Sources". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 57 (2): 181–203. ISSN 0001-6446. JSTOR 23658631.
- ^ Diringer, David (1982). The book before printing: Ancient, Medieval and Oriental. New York: Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-24243-9.
- ^ "Proposal to encode Small Seal Script in UCS" (PDF). Working Group. 2015-10-20. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
External links
- Topical Document List: Seal Script, Unicode
- Lookup of seal script is available through some online dictionaries. See the KU libraries guide for examples.