Small seal script: Difference between revisions

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|fam4=[[Large seal script]]

|children=[[Clerical script]]

|sample=XiaozhuanQinquanEdict bronze standard weight Qin dynasty.jpg

|iso15924=Seal

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{{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 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 ==

BeforeDuring the [[Qin'sEastern wars of unificationZhou]] dynasty ({{circa|771}}{{snd}}256&nbsp;BC), local variationvarieties inof [[Chinese character]] forms had evolveddeveloped independentlyacross of one another forthe centuriescountry, producing the 'scripts of the six states' ({{lang|zh|六國文字}}),—which allwere oflater which werecollectively referred to later as [[large seal script]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=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]]'' 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|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}}

== Encoding ==

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{{list of writing systems}}

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

[[Category:Obsolete writing systems]]

[[Category:Chinese script style]]