Small seal script: Difference between revisions

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Latest revision as of 10:20, 26 July 2025

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|fam4=[[Large seal script]]

|children=[[Clerical script]]

|sample=XiaozhuanQinquanEdict bronze standard weight Qin dynasty.jpg

|iso15924=Seal

|note=none

}}

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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 ==

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== 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 ==