Small seal script

小篆 XiaoZhuan was originally a work by Li Si during the reign of the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi HuangDi.

Before the Qin conquest of the other regions of China, regional characters were used, and under unification of China, currency, laws, weights and measures and writing was to be systemised. Li Si's compilation is known only through Chinese commentaries through the centuries. It is purported to contain 3000 characters. The name of the work gives rise to the style of characters used, " small seal script".