What is ancient writing?

Ancient writing. In China, it refers to the seal script system handed down from the pre-Qin period, such as Oracle Bone Inscriptions, bronze inscriptions and tadpoles.

Four ancient Chinese characters in China:

oracle bone script

Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the earliest, most systematic and most mature writing we have ever seen. It was formed in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. The early Tao Wen was named after being carved on Oracle bones. Because it was first discovered in the Yin Ruins in Xiaotun, Anyang, Henan Province, it is also called "Yin Ruins". It was first discovered by the late Qing Dynasty stele engraver Wang. As the "keel" of Chinese medicine, it was identified as Chinese characters. It is also called Oracle Bone Inscriptions, because most of the contents inscribed on it are divination and sacrificial ceremonies. Oracle Bone Inscriptions is carved on hard tortoise shells and animal bones with better tools, so its characteristics are outstanding. His strokes are mainly straight and oblique, with curved lines in the middle. The strokes are thin and straight and the blade is exposed. Symmetry is the characteristic of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, such as China people and sheep. At the same time, its shape is not fixed enough, there are many strokes, and there are positive and negative writing methods, such as: toe writing or, although the characters are square and neat, their writing procedures are different, sometimes depending on the scribe lines, and the strokes are straight and hard, which is more common in Fang Bi. This piece of Oracle Bone Inscriptions is a relic of Shang Dynasty (about BC12-1century) and the earliest mature script discovered by China. It was carved directly on the Oracle Bone Inscriptions with a knife. Font sizes are different, branches are naturally white, spacing is moderate, and layout is reasonable and tidy. Fiona Fang's chubby knife method is also different, and every word is simple and harmonious.

Inscriptions on drum stones in the Warring States Period (475-22 BC1year)

Also known as Zhou Tai's history books. On the basis of the original text, he transformed it and got his name because it was engraved on the stone drum. It is the earliest stone carving text that has been circulated so far, and it is the ancestor of stone carving. After vicissitudes of life, the stone drum moved from south to north. After many twists and turns, most of the characters peeled off, leaving only a few clear words, which are now hidden in the Palace Museum in Beijing. Its calligraphy is characterized by vigorous and natural calligraphy, vigorous brushwork, square structure, strict specification and relatively complete form. It inherited the inscription on the bronze and opened the seal script below it. It is the style of the transition from bronze inscription to seal script. Shi Guwen and Curse Zhu Wen are the representatives of this kind of prose. Shi Guwen, a stone carving of Qin State during the Warring States Period, was named after its drum shape. Because of the text content, it is also called hunting group, and because of the place name, it is also called Yongyi carved stone. It is the earliest stone inscription in China. The stone drum was unearthed in Tianxing Three Ugly Courtyard in Tang Dynasty (Fengxiang Three Ugly Courtyard in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province), which has undergone vicissitudes and is well preserved so far. In order to better protect the original drums, Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty carved 10 drums and placed them in imperial academy. Now I think drums are in imperial academy. Stone drum *** 10, 90 cm high and 60 cm in diameter, granite, dome and flat bottom. Each drum is engraved with a four-character poem. Due to the long history and twists and turns, most of the words on the stone drums have peeled off, and some stone drums have disappeared. Since the stone drum was unearthed, it has been favored by emperors, historians and calligraphers, and there are many textual researches and rubbings. Since Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty, all calligraphers have used the stone drum as their handwriting. From the perspective of calligraphy, the "meticulous care for the land, the meticulous care for the vegetation, and the overall tailoring are unique" (Kang goes without saying). Judging from the handwriting, the strokes are basically vigorous, round and unrestrained, with rigorous structure and simple elegance. It is a model of the transition from ancient Chinese to Xiao Zhuan, and is regarded as an original by the later seal script learners. In the early Warring States period, he carved stones in Qin State to curse Chu Wen. It's an article by the king of Qin cursing Chu Wen. The detailed age, book engraving and characters are still inconclusive. It is said that Chu Wen * * * has three stones, one of which is "Wu Xianwen", which was first obtained by Yu Fengxiang, with 326 words. The second part is "The Record of Judgment", which was first obtained in Pingliang, Gansu, with 3 18 words. The third is "A Tuo Wen" collected by Liu in Luoyang. "Curse Chu Three Chapters" is not the original stone, but was compiled and copied by later generations. The three articles are similar in style, with "Five Immortals" as the mainstay, and their handwriting is superb and meticulous, comparable to that of Shi Guwen.

Ancient bronze inscriptions

Bronze inscriptions refer to inscriptions cast or carved on bronzes, also known as Zhong Dingwen. Characters can be divided into concave and convex. The concave ones are carved with a knife, showing negative characters, and the convex ones are carved with a knife first, and then cast with positive characters. Originated in Shang Dynasty and prevailed in Zhou Dynasty. Most inscriptions on inscriptions on inscriptions are records of ceremonies, conquests, contracts, etc. This is a kind of writing which inherits the style of Oracle Bone Inscriptions and has new development. Its characteristics are simple and natural strokes, magnificent and colorful words, and gradually neat, majestic and simple fonts. However, because the strokes of fonts are not completely fixed, there are often different characters, strokes and writing styles. At present, there are many bronzes engraved with inscriptions, such as Pan, Mao and Pan. Da Dingyu is a bronze inscription in the Western Zhou Kangwang period (BC 1 1 century-BC 10 century). Daoguang was unearthed in the early years of Qing Dynasty on the bank of Licunguou, Yan County, Shaanxi Province, and is now in the Chinese History Museum. This tripod is 10 1.9 cm high, 77.8 cm in diameter and weighs 153.5 kg. It is the largest well-known tripod unearthed so far in the Western Zhou Dynasty, with straight and symmetrical ears, round bottom and full columns. The inner wall is engraved with 9 lines of 29 1, which records the 23 years of Zhou Kangwang. At that time, he described the founding experiences of Wen, Wu and Cheng and the lessons of Yin's subjugation, and warned Yu to follow the example of his ancestors and faithfully assist the royal family. Yu thanked the king's life and cast this tripod to remember it. The Great Yu Ding is the most important bronze ware in the Western Zhou Dynasty, with a large number of inscriptions, large characters and Fiona Fang brushwork. The thickness varies, the starting and ending points vary according to the situation, the posture is rigorous, magnificent, the spirit is smooth, the shape is neat, and the vertical and horizontal density are equal. It is actually a model of bronze inscriptions in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. The three-dimensional disc, also known as the Sagittarius disc, is a timepiece in West Zhou Liwang (857-842 BC). It was unearthed during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and is now in the Palace Museum in Taiwan. The disc is 20.6 cm high and 54.6 cm in diameter, with the inscription 19 lines and 357 characters. Ji Yaren contracted the land to Sanshi, hence the name. It is an important material for studying the land system in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Inscription, brushwork, writing, composition, arbitrary, interesting. Most characters are horizontal, which is different from most inscriptions that are vertical. The center of gravity of the word protrudes from left to right, giving people a sense of jumping. Therefore, its composition has also appeared a variety of phenomena, giving people a sense of freedom and elegance. It is an important inscription material in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. Mao Dinggong was the golden Wen Ding in the Western Zhou Xuanwang period (827-782 BC). Daoguang was unearthed in Qishan County, Shaanxi Province in the late Qing Dynasty, and is now in the Palace Museum in Taiwan. Ding Tong is 53.8 cm high and 47.9 cm in diameter. His abdomen is round and his feet are hoof-shaped. The inscription on the abdomen, with 32 lines and 497 words, is the longest bronze ware ever discovered. The inscription remembers the turmoil in all directions in the world. Zhou ordered Mao to assist the royal family by giving them food, wine, clothes, cars and weapons, etiquette supplies and so on. They are important documents and objects for studying the history of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The inscription is rigorous in brushwork, rigid and thin in structure, vertical in posture, smooth and magnificent in movement and free in composition, which is really a treasure in bronze inscriptions. The white pan of Polygonum hydropiper was a vessel in the period of West Zhou Xuanwang (827- 782 BC). It was unearthed in Guochuan District, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, and is now in the Museum of Chinese History. The plate is rectangular, with a length of137.2cm, a height of 39.5cm, a width of 86.2cm and a weight of 215.3kg.. This is a bathing utensil for Polygonum cuspidatum, and it is also the largest copper plate found so far. The inscription describes Guo Jizi's conquest of the powerful northwest tribe (Xiongnu) east of Luoshui at the behest of King Zhou, and he was rewarded for his meritorious service. The inscription is a four-character rhyme poem. Although the figures vary in size, they are all graceful and exquisite, with neat lines and elegant cloth. On the writing pen, the pen was obviously put down a little, which opened the precedent of Shi Guwen's calligraphy style, and it is called an essay in today's book history.

Small/small seal characters

Xiao Zhuan, also known as Qin Zhuan, is a well-known text compiled by Li Si, the prime minister after the unification of Qin Dynasty. Before the reunification of the Qin Dynasty, due to the long-term regional separatist regime, "different sounds and different characters", the writing form was very inconsistent, and the phenomenon of more than one character was very serious. For example, there are more than twenty ways to write "sheep", which brings great inconvenience to the development of economic and cultural exchanges. Therefore, while unifying the system of money, rail and weights and measures, we also strive to implement the policy of "book peers". The preface to Shuo Wen Jie Zi records that "Prime Minister Reese played with it and didn't cooperate with it. The secretary wrote "Heaven and Heaven", Che Fu ordered Zhao Gao to write "Love Calendar", and Tai Shi ordered Hu Wu to write "Bo Xue", all of which took history as a great seal, or it was quite preserved, so-called small seal. " It can be seen that the system of Xiao Zhuan evolved from Da Zhuan. On the basis of prose writing, Li Si simplified the complicated and abolished the variant characters, and created Qin Zhuan with unified national characters. This kind of book is relatively simple, with horizontal lines and vertical characters. This is a great progress of Chinese characters and an important milestone in the development history of Chinese characters. It opened up a broad road for the changes of later books such as Kai, Li, Xing and Cao. Some of them are cast on iron, and some are carved on stone tablets and stone tablets. Judging from the physical data we have seen so far, Qin Zhuan is generally carved on ironware, weights and measures, seals, coins and imperial edicts. There are big and small, natural laws, dignified words and neat branches, which are the essence and representative of Xiao Zhuan. His masterpiece is the remains of Qinshan stone carving, with only the word 10 left. In addition, Mount Tai and Langya Taiwan have been handed down from generation to generation. It is said that all the carved stones on it were written by Li Si. Taishan remembers that stone is also called Taishan Monument. In the 28th year of the King of Qin (2 19 BC), the emperor traveled east to Mount Tai, which was written by Prime Minister Li Si. The stone is 4 feet high and is engraved with big characters around it. The first emperor wrote three letters and the second emperor wrote one letter. The main content is Ode to Qin De. Font seal script, the original existing Daisi residual stone. There are many rubbings handed down, which are characterized by rounded strokes, smooth strokes and iron lines; The structure is dignified and rigorous; The font is slightly longer and the shape is bodybuilding; The branches are neatly dressed and are the representatives of Xiao Zhuan. Tang Li Sizhen said, "The essence of Li Sizhen's seal script lies in ancient and modern times. The mountains of the King of Qin and the decrees of the emperor, the mighty crossbows of Fu You and the Hong Zhong of Shiwan are all masterpieces of scholars. It is also a valuable asset of the country. " Yishan Stone Carving, commonly known as Yishan Monument, was built on Yishan (Zouxian County, Shandong Province) in the 28th year of Qin Shihuang (2 19 BC), and Prime Minister Li Si handed down as Xiao Zhuan. The content is preceded by the imperial edict of the first emperor, with the word 144, and followed by the imperial edict of the second emperor, with a total of 79 words and slightly smaller characters. The second imperial edict was carved in 209 BC. Its stone has long been lost. What we are seeing now is post-imitation. Although Qin Zhuan's ancient clumsy brushwork is lost, his brushwork is clear and vigorous, which is of great value to the study of the evolution of seal script art. Qin Zhao was written in the 26th year of Qin Shihuang (22 BC1year) and recorded the contents of the imperial edict issued by Qin Shihuang. His strokes are vigorous, his style is free, his size is the same, and he is happy with the situation; Between the lines, sometimes sparse and sometimes dense, although not neat, before and after into interest.