Official script is also known as Zuoshu, Fenshu, and Bafen. Because it was popular in the Han Dynasty, it is also called Hanli. It evolved from the round and smooth strokes of seal script to square folded strokes. Tight, stretched left and right, and the pen movement changes from slow to short, thus showing a lively and diverse style, which brings great convenience to the writer. Lishu is divided into Qin Li and Han Li.
Qinli refers to the official script from the Warring States period, Qin to the early Western Han Dynasty, also known as Guli. There are many theories about the origin of ancient scribes. Judging from the materials discovered so far, Qin Li was born in the Warring States period. Judging from the early traces of Li script that appeared on the "wooden slips" unearthed in Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province, in the second year of King Wu Qin of the Warring States period (309 BC), the cumbersomeness of the seal script was reduced. The shape of the strokes and characters changes from the rectangle of seal script to square or flat. Although its structure still has a seal flavor, the prototype of official script has appeared. By the end of the Warring States period, this prototype of official script had been widely used. From the picture of "Qin Bamboo Slips" unearthed in Yunmengsuihudi, Hubei, in the 51st year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin Dynasty (256 BC), this kind of font, which looks like seal and Li, gradually reflects the simplicity and clarity of the characters. , Lively specification of lines. In the large number of wooden slips, bamboo slips and silk scripts unearthed from the Warring States period to the Qin Dynasty, we can see the long process of evolution from seal script to official script. After Qin Shihuang unified China in 221 BC, he implemented a series of new measures to facilitate his rule, one of which was "Book Tongwen". Li Si, the Prime Minister of the Qin Dynasty, and Zhao Gao, the secretary of Zhongshu, sorted it out on the basis of the characters of the Warring States Period, and unified the official characters of the whole country, Xiaozhuan. Compared with the characters of the previous dynasty, Xiaozhuan has taken a big step forward in terms of lines, structures, and font shapes, but the method of using the brush is still round and long, and the meaning of pictograms has not been completely shaken off, and the writing speed is relatively slow. Due to the numerous officials and prisons at that time, and the frequent exchanges of military and government documents and official documents, a large number of documents were often copied. Saving and simplifying became an urgent demand for the reform of the language at that time. widely popular. Wei Heng's "Si Ti Shu Shi" said: "Since Qin used seal script, there are many things to play, and seal script is difficult to complete. Even if you ask someone to write it, it is called official script.... The official script is the best seal script." It is a clear proof. For the time being, we will not examine who the inventor of official script is, because the creation of a typeface cannot be created by an individual, nor can it be completed in a single period. It is gradually formed with the progress of society and actual needs. of.
Judging from the development history of Chinese characters for thousands of years, if pictographs to Qin Xiaozhuan are classified as ancient characters, then we classify official script and regular script used until today as modern characters. Therefore, the official script inherits the rules of the seal script and develops the foundation of the regular script. It has a very important position in the history of the development of Chinese characters and calligraphy. No matter from the perspective of practicality or artistry, its appearance is an extremely important turning point. It is a major change in the evolution of Chinese characters in our country. Since the system of the early Western Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, and the writing was no exception, the official script of the early Western Han Dynasty was not much different from the official script of the Qin Dynasty. It not only has the calligraphy characteristics of the Qin Dynasty, but also lays the foundation for the formation of official script in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and plays a role in linking the past and the future. From the analysis of Changsha Mawangdui Silk Script (Picture 2) and Juyan Bamboo Slips of Han Dynasty (Picture 3) in the Western Han Dynasty, the strokes have been simplified, the flavor of seal script has also been reduced, and the font tends to be balanced. The wave-like changes and the vertical and horizontal posture of the body are more obvious than the official script of the Qin Dynasty. Relatively speaking, it shows the innocence and simplicity of the writer more, but the calligraphy skills are not mature enough, so it is not a classic official script.
From the mid-Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty, the official script was gradually perfected. Especially in the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to the wise policies adopted by the ruling class, the entire society and economy prospered, and the culture and art also prospered. The distinctive and excellent inscriptions made official script develop into a regular, artistic and highly aesthetic script.
What we usually call Hanli mainly refers to the official script on the inscriptions of the Eastern Han Dynasty. They are characterized by richer brush skills, echoes of stippling, ups and downs of strokes, twists and turns of strokes, silkworm heads and wild goose tails, and structures that are heavy and turbid but light and clear, uneven and scattered, which is breathtaking. The styles are diverse and the law is complete, or strong, or handsome, or chic, or elegant, or simple, or rigorous, such as brilliant stars, reaching the peak of art. "Yiying Stele", "Ode to the Stone Gate" (Picture 4), "Ritual Vessel Stele" (Picture 5), "Confucius Temple Stele" (Picture 6), "Huashan Stele" (Picture 7), "Han Renming" (Picture 8) , "Cao Quan Stele" (Figure 9), "Zhang Qian Stele" (Figure 10) and other inscriptions of the Eastern Han Dynasty are signs of maturity and models.
Calligraphy after the Wei and Jin Dynasties mainly focused on the formation, development and maturity of cursive script, running script, and regular script. Many calligraphers focused their energy on regular script, running script, and cursive script, but the official script was not discarded. Regular script is gradually mixed into the pen, losing the simplicity and elegance of the original Han Li, and tending to be neat and tidy, and the combination of pen and style. In the Qing Dynasty, the official script was on the stele
It has been revived and developed in the wave of revival of Lishu, and many calligraphers have emerged and achieved high achievements, forming the second peak of Lishu art. Such as Zheng ( ) (Picture 11), Jinnong (Picture 12), Gui Fu (Picture 12), Deng Shiru (Picture 14), Yi Bingshou (Picture 15), Zhao Zhiqian (Picture 16), He Introduce "Figure 17". In particular, Zheng () and others were pioneers in advocating, learning and inheriting Han monuments, and innovated on the basis of inheriting Han Li, becoming one of the mainstream and popular calligraphy art in Qing Dynasty. Especially in the past hundred years, archaeologists in our country have unearthed a large number of authentic ink scripts of wooden slips, bamboo slips, and silk scripts from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States to the Han Dynasty. first-hand information.
When we learn calligraphy, we should start with official script, and when we learn official script, we should use Yu Zheng's dignified and rigorous Han official inscriptions as a model to lay a solid foundation, and then move on to others to develop steadily. If you start with a beginner, the "Han Bamboo Slips" tends to be floating and slippery, and if you start with "Qing Li", it will only have its shape but not its spirit, let alone use a modern new official script copybook as a model , which can only go astray. If we want to find a shortcut to learn official script, the shortcut is to start from the Han stele. Only by learning down-to-earth, writing the official official script well, and then tracing the seal script, oracle bone inscriptions, and tracing Zheng, Xing, and cursive scripts, we can get twice the result with half the effort.
