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According to ancient
lore, when a Chinese man named Cangjie learned the divine secret
of writing, the spirits were so angry that millet rained from
heaven.
Zhuanshu (seal script) is the most archaic, and can be seen on
oracle bones (used for divination) dating back to the Shang and
Zhou dynasties (14th century-476 BC). Because of its long,
developmental history however, there was great regional
variation in its characters. In the above illustration for
example, there are 40 different versions of the same auspicious
character, shou (longevity).
Lishu (official script) was developed during the Qin dynasty
(221-207 BC) in an attempt to standardize writing throughout the
empire. This script can be seen on many stone inscriptions of
the period. Kaishu (regular script) of which the oldest extant
example dates soon after to the Wei Kingdom (220-265 AD),
simplified the lishu . Its characters are the closest to the
modern form, being square and architectural in style.
On the basis of the kaishu (regular script), the caoshu (grass script) was developed to allow for a quicker, more fluid style of writing. The final style, or xingshu (running script), lies
somewhere between the kaishu (regular) and caoshu (grass)
scripts in that at times the strokes are controlled and regular
and at other times free and flowing. These are the three scripts
most frequently used in modern times - master calligraphers
compare them to a person standing (kaishu), walking (xingshu )
and running (caoshu ).
Sources: www.imperialtours.net/index.htm, www.asia-art.net , www.home.flash.net, library.thinkquest.org, www.chinaculture.org, www.wavedancing.net
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