View source for Small seal script

{{Short description|Form of Chinese characters from the Qin dynasty}}
{{Infobox writing system
|type=[[Logographic]]
|languages=[[Old Chinese]] 
|time={{circa|500&nbsp;BC|200&nbsp;AD}}
|fam1=([[Proto-writing]])
|fam2=[[Oracle bone script]]
|fam3=[[Bronze script]]
|fam4=[[Large seal script]]
|children=[[Clerical script]]
|sample=Edict bronze standard weight Qin dynasty.jpg
|iso15924=Seal
|note=none
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| c = 小篆
| p = xiǎozhuàn
| w = hsiao<sup>3</sup>-chuan<sup>4</sup>
| j = siu2 syun6
| l = small seal
| altname = Qin script
| c2 = 秦篆
| p2 = Qínzhuàn
| j2 = Ceon4 syun6
| w2 = Chʻin<sup>2</sup>-chuan<sup>4</sup>
| l2 = Qin seal
|vie = Tiểu triện
|chuhan = 小篆
}}
{{Table Hanzi}}

The '''small seal script''' is an archaic [[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]].

== History ==
During the [[Eastern Zhou]] dynasty ({{circa|771}}{{snd}}256&nbsp;BC), local varieties of [[Chinese character]] forms had developed across the country, producing the 'scripts of the six states' ({{lang|zh|六國文字}})—which were later collectively referred to 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> This variance was considered unacceptable by the rising [[Qin dynasty]] (221–206&nbsp;BC), who saw it as a hindrance to timely communication, trade, taxation, and transportation, as well as being a potential vector 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> Around 220&nbsp;BC, [[Qin Shi Huang]] ordered a systematic standardization of the country's weights, measures, and currency, as well as its writing system. Character forms which differed from those used by Qin scribes were discarded, with the Qin forms becoming standard across the entire empire.<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 ==
The small seal script was initially proposed for inclusion in [[Unicode]] in 2015. The 723-page proposal lists many of the best-known examples of Qing-era commentary images.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2015/15281-n4688-small-seal.pdf|title=Proposal to encode Small Seal Script in UCS | publisher=Working Group|date=2015-10-20|access-date=2016-01-23}}</ref> {{As of|April 2020}}, the proposal remains under discussion.

== 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.

{{Chinese Calligraphies}}
{{list of writing systems}}

[[Category:Culture of the Qin dynasty]]
[[Category:Obsolete writing systems]]
[[Category:Chinese script style]]