View source for Seal script

{{Short description|Ancient style of Chinese characters}}
{{More inline citations needed|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox writing system
| name = Seal script
| type = [[Logographic]]
| languages = [[Old Chinese]]
| time = {{circa|700&nbsp;BC|200&nbsp;AD}}
| fam1 = [[Oracle bone script]]
| children = * [[Clerical script]]
:* [[Regular script]]
| sample = XiaozhuanQinquan sized.jpg
| imagesize = 240
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| pic = Seal Eg.png
| t = {{linktext|篆書}}
| s = {{linktext|篆书}}
| p = zhuànshū
| tp = jhuàn-shu
| picsize = 180px
| piccap = "Seal script" in [[regular script]] (left) and seal script (right).
| w = chuan<sup>4</sup>-shu<sup>1</sup>
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|zh|uan|4|.|sh|u|1}}
| bpmf = ㄓㄨㄢˋ ㄕㄨ
| j = syun6 syu1
| y = syuhnsyū
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|s|yun|6|.|s|yu|1}}
| hn = {{ubl|篆書|𡨸篆}}
| qn = {{ubl|triện thư|chữ triện}}
}}
{{Table Hanzi}}

'''Seal script''' or '''sigillary script''' ({{zh|篆书|t=篆書|first=t|p=Zhuànshū|l=decorative engraving script|s=篆书}}) is a [[Chinese script styles|style]] of writing [[Chinese characters]] that was common throughout the latter half of the 1st millennium&nbsp;BC. It evolved organically out of [[bronze script]] during the [[Zhou dynasty]] (1046–256&nbsp;BC). The variant of seal script used in the [[state of Qin]] eventually became comparatively standardized, and was adopted as the formal script across all of China during the [[Qin dynasty]] (221–206&nbsp;BC). It was still widely used for decorative engraving and [[seal (East Asia)|seal]]s during the [[Han dynasty]] (202&nbsp;BC{{snd}}220&nbsp;AD).<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Li |first1=Huiwen |last2=Han |first2=Lifen |last3=Becker |first3=George |author-mask1=Li Huiwen (李惠文); |date=2018-12-20 |title=Calligraphy And Writing Techniques in the Qin and Han Dynasties |url=https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/intro-to-chinese-calligraphy/chapter/calligraphy-in-qin-and-han-dynasties/ |author2-mask=Han Lifen (韩丽芬); |author3-mask=George Becker (贝可平)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Script Types |url=https://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/callig/tcalhist.htm |access-date=2023-09-28}}</ref><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=2023-09-29}}</ref>

The literal translation given above was coined during the Han dynasty,{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}} and reflects the role of the script being reduced to ceremonial inscriptions.

== Types ==
The term ''seal script'' may refer to several distinct varieties, including the [[large seal script]] and the [[small seal script]]. Without qualification, ''seal script'' usually refers to the small seal script—that is, the lineage which evolved within the [[state of Qin]] during the [[Eastern Zhou]] dynasty (771–221&nbsp;BC), which was later standardized under [[Qin Shi Huang]] ({{reign|221|210&nbsp;BC}}). The term ''large seal script'' may itself refer to a broad range of forms, including Qin forms older than the small seal script—but also earlier Western Zhou forms, or even oracle bone characters. Due to this imprecision, modern scholars tend to avoid using the term ''large seal script''.{{sfn|Qiu|2000|p=60}}

== Development ==
There were several different variants of seal script which developed independently in each kingdom during the Eastern Zhou. One of these, the [[bird-worm seal script]], is named for its intricate decorations on the defining strokes, and was used in the states of [[state of Wu|Wu]], [[state of Chu|Chu]], and [[state of Yue|Yue]]. It was found on several artifacts including the [[Spear of Fuchai]] and the [[Sword of Goujian]]. As a southern state, Chu was influenced by Wuyue. Chu produced bronze broadswords that were similar to those from Wuyue, but not as intricate. Chu also used the bird-worm style, which was borrowed by the Wu and Yue states.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

== Unified small seal script ==
{{main|Small seal script}}
The Qin script—as exemplified in bronze inscriptions prior to unification—had evolved organically from the Zhou script starting in the Spring and Autumn period. Beginning around the Warring States period, it became vertically elongated with a regular appearance. This was the period of maturation for the small seal script. It was systematized by prime minister [[Li Si]] during the reign of Qin Shi Huang through the elimination of most character variants, and was imposed as the imperial standard.{{sfn|Chen|2003}} Through Chinese commentaries, it is known that Li Si compiled the ''{{transliteration|zh|[[Cangjiepian]]}}'', a partially-extant wordbook listing some 3,300 [[Chinese characters]] in the small seal script. Their form is characterized by being less rectangular and more squarish.

In the popular history of Chinese characters, the small seal script is traditionally considered to be ancestral to [[clerical script]], which in turn prefigured every other script in use today. However, recent archaeological discoveries and scholarship have led some scholars to conclude that the direct ancestor of clerical script was proto-clerical script, which in turn evolved out of the lesser-known ''vulgar'' or ''popular'' writing of the late Warring States to Qin period.{{sfn|Qiu|2000}}

The first known [[character dictionary]] was the 3rd-century&nbsp;BC ''{{transliteration|zh|[[Erya]]}}'', collated and referenced by [[Liu Xiang (scholar)|Liu Xiang]] and his son [[Liu Xin (scholar)|Liu Xin]]; it is no longer extant. Not long after, the ''{{transliteration|zh|[[Shuowen Jiezi]]}}'' ({{circa|100&nbsp;AD}}) was written by [[Xu Shen]]. The ''Shuowen''{{'}}s 9,353 entries reproduce the standardized small seal forms for each entry, organized under 540 [[Radical (Chinese character)|radicals]].

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Edict bronze plate on iron standard weight Qin dynasty Shangtong.jpg|Small seal inscription on a Qin standard prototype weight—made from iron, and unearthed at [[Wendeng]], [[Shandong]] in 1973
File:BronzePlaque-EdictOfSecondEmperor-Qin-ROM-May8-08.png|Edict of [[Qin Er Shi]] in seal script. In the popular history of Chinese characters, the small seal script is traditionally considered to be the ancestor of [[clerical script]]
</gallery>

== Computer encoding ==
[[File:Li Jingxun, epitaph plaque.jpg|thumb|Seal inscription on the tomb of [[Li Jingxun]] (608&nbsp;AD)]]

It is anticipated that small seal script forms will eventually be encoded in ''[[The Unicode Standard]]''. The [[code point]]s {{code|U+38000–U+3AB9F}} on the [[Tertiary Ideographic Plane]] have been tentatively allocated.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Everson |first1=Michael |last2=McGowan |first2=Rick |last3=Whistler |first3=Ken |last4=Umamaheswaran |first4=V. S. |date=9 May 2023 |title=Roadmap to the TIP |url=https://www.unicode.org/roadmaps/tip/ |access-date=28 August 2023 |publisher=The Unicode Consortium}}</ref>

== See also ==
* {{annotated link|Ancient Script Texts}}
* {{annotated link|ʼPhags-pa script}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Qiu |first=Xigui |author-link=Qiu Xigui |title=Chinese Writing |publisher=Society for the Study of Early China and The Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-557-29071-7 |location=Berkeley |translator-last=Mattos |translator-first=Gilbert L. |author-mask=Qiu Xigui (裘锡圭) |orig-date=1988 |translator-last2=Norman |translator-first2=Jerry}}
* {{Cite book |last=Chen |first=Zhaorong |publisher=Academia Sinica |year=2003 |isbn=957-671-995-X |language=zh |script-title=zh:秦系文字研究﹕从漢字史的角度考察 |trans-title=Research on the Qin Lineage of Writing: An Examination from the Perspective of the History of Chinese Writing |author-mask=Chen Zhaorong (陳昭容)}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Seal script}}
* [http://www.internationalscientific.org/CharacterASP/ Script translation]
* [http://www.internationalscientific.org/CharacterASP/why_study.aspx#seal Richard Sears on seal script]

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[[Category:Chinese heraldry]]
[[Category:Chinese script style]]
[[Category:Chinese seal art]]
[[Category:Logographic writing systems]]
[[Category:Seals (insignia)]]