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seal forms, which were very actively promoted—with the incentive of punishment
for those who transgressed—in the Qin Dynasty under Emperor Shi Huangdi (the
self-styled ‘First Emperor’) as part of his strategy to unify the land under his rule.
Small seal forms were preserved for posterity in the following Han Dynasty (Early
Han Dynasty: 206 BC–24 AD; Later Han Dynasty: 25–220 AD) in the character
dictionary entitled Shuowen jiezi (Explanation of Indivisible Characters and Analysis
of Compound Characters) completed ca.100AD by Xu Shen (for details, see Section
5 [‘Early and Pre-Modern Character Dictionaries’]). In terms of Chinese writing,
this was a pioneering work which soon became an indispensable reference for later
scholars working on the script, and this remains true through to the present day. In
the Early Han period, small seal was still the official script, but the clerical script was
gaining in popularity.
1.3 Clerical Script ( 隷 書 Ch. lishu, J. reisho)
While small seal was promoted as the official script during the Qin Dynasty, for
practical purposes it was still quite cumbersome. To overcome this, an abbreviated
variety of the small seal script came to be used for record-keeping, known as lishu
‘clerical script’ (sometimes translated as ‘scribe script’). While its use appears to have
been promoted by the needs of an expanding government administration, according
to Qiu Xigui the beginnings of clerical script can be traced back to the Warring
States period (475–221 BC). It is fair to say that clerical script represents the early
stage of what was later to become the modern character script, as most of the characters
in clerical script are recognisable to us today. While initially a practical script
type in nature, over time clerical script also developed a dimension of aesthetic
refinement, and thereby acquired respectability. By the Later Han period, clerical
script was accepted as the official script, and small seal was retained for ornamental
purposes.
1.4 Block Script ( 楷 書 Ch. kaishu, J. kaisho)
Also known in English variously as standard script, regular script, or model script.
The kai of kaishu/kaisho means ‘standard, a model’. In this book, this stage is referred
to as ‘block script’. It is difficult to pinpoint the time when block script evolved from
clerical script, but in broad terms this development took place towards the end of
the Later Han Dynasty. Compared with clerical script, characters in block script
tend to be modestly less undulating and slightly more square in appearance, are
readily legible (as far as is possible for often intricate shapes), yet at the same time
retain an aesthetically pleasing aspect. The merits of block script have seen it endure
and occupy the position of a standard over the centuries and down to the present.
Introduction 11