Small seal script: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Form of Chinese characters from the Qin dynasty}}

{{Infobox writing system

|name=Small seal script

|type=[[Logographic]]

|languages=[[Old Chinese]]

|time={{circa|500 BC|200 AD}}

|time= [[Bronze Age China]]

|fam1=([[History of writing#Proto-writing|Proto-writing]])

|fam2=[[Oracle bone script]]

|fam3=[[Bronze script]]

|fam4=[[Large seal script]]

|children=[[Clerical script]]

|children=[[Clerical script]] (lishu)<br />[[Kaishu]]<br />[[Traditional Chinese]]<br />[[Simplified Chinese]]<br />[[Kanji]]<br />[[Kana]]<br />[[Hanja]]<br />[[Zhuyin]]<br />[[Chu Nom]]<br />[[Khitan small script|Khitan script]]<br />[[Jurchen script]]<br />[[Tangut script]]

|sample=Edict bronze standard weight Qin dynasty.jpg

|iso15924=Seal

|sample=XiaozhuanQinquan.jpg

|imagesize=

|note=none

}}

{{Infobox Chinese

| c = 小篆

| p = xiǎozhuàn

| w = hsiao³-chuan⁴

| j = siu2 syun6

| l = small seal

| altname = Qin script

| c2 = 秦篆

| p2 = Qínzhuàn

| j2 = Ceon4 syun6

| w2 = Chʻin²-chuan⁴

| l2 = Qin seal

}}

{{Table Hanzi}}

The '''small seal script''' is an archaic [[Chinese script styles|script style]] of [[written Chinese]]. It developed within the [[state of Qin]] during the [[Eastern Zhou]] dynasty (771–256&nbsp;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&nbsp;BC) under [[Qin Shi Huang]], the first [[emperor of China]].

The '''small seal script''' ({{zh|s={{linktext|小篆}}|p=xiǎozhuàn}}), or '''Qin script''' ({{lang|zh|秦篆}}, ''Qínzhuàn''), is an archaic form of [[Chinese calligraphy]]. It was standardized and promulgated as a national standard by the government of [[Qin Shi Huang]], founder of the Chinese [[Qin dynasty]].

== Name ==

Xiaozhuan, [[Wade-Giles|formerly]] [[romanization of Chinese|romanized]] as '''Hsiao-chuan''', is also known as the '''seal script''' or '''lesser seal script.'''

== History ==

BeforeDuring the [[Qin'sEastern wars of unificationZhou]] dynasty ({{circa|771}}{{snd}}256&nbsp;BC), local variationvarieties inof [[Chinese character]] forms had evolveddeveloped independentlyacross ofthe one another for centuriescountry, producing "Scriptsthe 'scripts of the Sixsix States"states' ({{lang|zh|六國文字}}),—which allwere oflater whichcollectively werereferred includedto under theas [[large seal script]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Categories of Calligraphy - Seal Script |url=https://www.cityu.edu.hk/lib/about/event/ch_calligraphy/seal_eng.htm |access-date=2023-09-28}}</ref> UnderThis avariance morewas unifiedconsidered regime,unacceptable by the variancenascent was[[Qin considereddynasty]] unacceptable(221–206&nbsp;BC), inwho itssaw it as a hindrance ofto timely communicationscommunication, trade, taxation, and transportation, as well as being a potential vectorsvector for fomenting political dissent.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Galambos |first=Imre |year=2004 |title=The Myth of the Qin Unification of Writing in Han Sources |jstor=23658631 |journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=181–203 |doi=10.1556/AOrient.57.2004.2.2 |issn=0001-6446}}</ref>Afterwards Around 220&nbsp;BC, [[Qin Shi Huang]] mandatedordered thea systematic unificationstandardization of the country's weights, measures, currencies,and etc.currency, andas thewell useas of a standardits writing scriptsystem. CharactersCharacter forms which were differentdiffered from those foundused inby Qin scribes were discarded, andwith the Qin's smallforms sealbecoming charactersstandard becameacross the standard for all regions within theentire empire. This policy became effective in around 220 BC, the year after Qin's unification of the Chinese states.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Diringer |first=David |title=The book before printing: Ancient, Medieval and Oriental |publisher=Dover |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-486-24243-9 |___location=New York}}</ref>

== Standardization ==

The standardized use of small seal characters was promulgated via the ''[[Cangjiepian]]'', a primer compiled by Qin Shi Huang's ministersministers—namely his chancellor [[Li Si]]. This compilation, statedwhich was claimed to containinclude 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 perioddynasty]] (1644–1912), and recent archeological excavations in [[Anhui]], China, have uncovered several hundred more on bamboo strips, showing the order of the characters.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}} However, the script found was not the small seal script, as the discovery dates back to the [[Han period]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

==Unicode==

The small seal script has been proposed for inclusion in [[Unicode]]. The 723-page proposal from 2015 lists much of the then-known examples of Qing dynasty commentary images.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2015/15281-n4688-small-seal.pdf|title=L2/15-281: Proposal to encode Small Seal Script in UCS | publisher=Working Group Document, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 and UTC|date=2015-10-20|access-date=2016-01-23}}</ref> This topic remains under discussion by Unicode's working group as of April 2020.

==See alsoEncoding ==

The small seal script haswas beeninitially proposed for inclusion in [[Unicode]] in 2015. The 723-page proposal from 2015 lists muchmany of the thenbest-known examples of Qing dynasty-era commentary images.<ref>{{citeCite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2015/15281-n4688-small-seal.pdf|title=L2/15-281: Proposal to encode Small Seal Script in UCS | publisher=Working Group Document, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 and UTC|date=2015-10-20|access-date=2016-01-23}}</ref> This{{As topicof|April 2020}}, the proposal remains under discussion by Unicode's working group as of April 2020.

* [[Seal script]]

* [[Large seal script]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://unicode.org/L2/topical/seal/ Topical Document List: Seal Script], [[Unicode]]

* Lookup of seal script is available through some online dictionaries. See the [https://guides.lib.ku.edu/c.php?g=206749&p=1363898 KU libraries] guide for examples.

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{{list of writing systems}}

[[Category:Culture of the Qin dynasty culture]]

[[Category:Obsolete writing systems]]

[[Category:Chinese script style]]