Clerical script
Clerical script | |
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![]() Stele of Huashan Temple, written in the clerical script from the late Eastern Han dynasty | |
Script type | |
Time period | Bronze Age China, Iron Age China |
Direction | Top-to-bottom ![]() |
Languages | Old Chinese, Eastern Han Chinese |
Related scripts | |
Parent systems | Oracle bone script
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Child systems | Regular script |
Clerical script | |||||||||||
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![]() Chinese characters for 'clerical script' in regular (left) and clerical script (right). | |||||||||||
Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | |||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 隶书 | ||||||||||
Literal meaning | clerical script | ||||||||||
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Vietnamese name | |||||||||||
Vietnamese alphabet |
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Hán-Nôm |
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Korean name | |||||||||||
Hangul | 예서 | ||||||||||
Alternative Japanese name | |||||||||||
Kanji | |||||||||||
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The clerical script (traditional Chinese:
Although it was succeeded by the later scripts, including the regular script, the clerical script is preserved as a calligraphic practice. In Chinese calligraphy, the term clerical often refers to a specific calligraphic style that is typical of a subtype of the clerical script, the Han clerical (汉隶;
History
[edit]Origin
[edit]Historical accounts, including the Book of Han (111 CE) and the postface of Shuowen Jiezi (c. 100 CE), mistakenly attribute the clerical script to Qin dynasty clerks, claiming that the clerks had devised the script to cope with the heavy workload.[5] There are also historical traditions dating back to the Han dynasty which attributed the creation of clerical script specifically to a Qin-dynasty prison officer, Cheng Miao (
The clerical script was developed from the local script varieties in the state of Qin in the Warring States period. These scripts are said to belong to the Qin-state script system (
Maturation
[edit]In the Qin dynasty, the official script was the small seal script. The clerical script was associated with low social status, and, although allowed as a sort of auxiliary writing style for clerks, was generally not used in formal occasions. However, it gradually assumed dominance over the small seal script over time, and had become the main script in use in the Han dynasty.[12] Over the course of the Han dynasty, the clerical scripts continued to mature and stabilize, finally arriving at a visually unique style. This style is characterized by the following points:
- Characters are typically wider than they are tall;
- The rightward-falling stroke often has a heavy foot that is slightly up-tilted at the end;
- The horizontal stroke also occasionally has a thick, downward dropping tail with a slightly up-tilted end, typically when it is one of the longer horizontally-directed strokes in a character.
The last two features above are sometimes called the 'wavy propensity' (simplified Chinese:
Clerical scripts before the formation of these features are often called Qin clerical script (
The most mature form of the bafen script can be found in the late Eastern Han dynasty, with "carefully and neatly executed"[15] inscriptions on stelae. These stelae are regarded as calligraphic works of great significance, and are often used as models of clerical-style calligraphy.[16] Some important inscriptions include:
西嶽 華山 廟 碑 , abbr.華山 碑 or華山 廟 碑 , The Stele of Huashan Temple;漢 魯相乙 瑛 請置孔 廟 百 石 卒 史 碑 , abbr.乙 瑛 碑 , The Stele of Yi Ying;- 郃陽
令 曹全碑 , abbr. 曹全碑 , The Stele of Cao Quan; 漢 故 穀 城 長 盪陰令 張 君 表 頌, abbr.張 遷碑, The Stele of Zhang Qian
Transition to neo-clerical
[edit]A new type of clerical script, for which Chinese palaeographer Qiu Xigui termed the name "neo-clerical" (simplified Chinese:
As a calligraphic practice
[edit]After the Northern and Southern dynasties, the clerical script was no longer actively in use,[citation needed] but its style survived in calligraphy.
In the Tang dynasty, calligraphers including Han Zemu (
The Qing dynasty saw a revival in clerical-style calligraphy, with notable calligraphers such as Jin Nong, Deng Shiru, Yi Bingshou (
Modern use
[edit]Due to its high legibility to modern readers, the clerical-style calligraphy is still used for artistic flavor in a variety of functional applications such as headlines, logos, signboards, and advertisements.[21][22]
There are a number of computer fonts that display CJK characters in the clerical style.[citation needed]
Names
[edit]The etymology of the Chinese name for the clerical script (
Clerical script is also known as 'clerical characters' (隸字), 'assistant writing' (
Historical nomenclature
[edit]From the Northern and Southern dynasties to the Tang dynasty, the regular script was still sometimes referred to as
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ Xigui, Qiu (2000). Chinese writing. Society for the study of Early China. pp. 103–112, 118–126, 138–147. ISBN 1-55729-071-7. OCLC 470162569.
- ^ "Clerical Script (
隸書 ) · Chinese Calligraphy". learning.hku.hk. Retrieved 2023-12-02. - ^ "Categories of Calligraphy - Clerical Script". www.cityu.edu.hk. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ Zhao, Ping'an; 赵平
安 (1993). 隸變研究 [Studies on Libian] (in Chinese) (1 ed.). Baoding:河北 大學 出版 社 . p. 8. ISBN 7-81028-118-6. OCLC 36942746. - ^ Qiu (2000), p. 103.
- ^ Cai Yong (蔡邕).
聖 皇 篇 [On the Illustrious Emperor] (in Literary Chinese)., cited in Qiu (2000), p. 103. - ^ Qiu (2000), p. 107.
- ^ Tang Lan (
唐 兰) (2005).中國 文字 學 [Chinese Grammatology]. Sichuan chuban jituan. ISBN 7-5325-3903-2. Cited in Qiu (2000), p. 107. - ^ Qiu (2000), p. 97.
- ^ Qiu (2000), p. 106.
- ^ Qiu (2000), pp. 106–107; Fang (2003), pp. 1–2.
- ^ Qiu (2000), pp. 111–112.
- ^ Qiu (2000), pp. 121–122.
- ^ Qiu (2000), p. 121.
- ^ Qiu (2000), p. 120.
- ^ Fang (2003).
- ^ Qiu (2000), pp. 138–149.
- ^ "
集 古 錄 跋 尾 十 卷 02第 131頁 (圖書館 ) –中國 哲學 書 電子 化 計 劃". ctext.org (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2022-02-06. “唐 世 名 能 八 分 者 四 家 ,韓 擇 木 史 惟 則 世 傳 頗多,而李潮 及有鄰特為 難 得 。” - ^ Fang (2003), pp. 8–9.
- ^ Fang (2003), p. 10.
- ^ Winston, Su (October 25, 2013). "Untitled". Flickr. In the photograph are three signboards. Top:
大同 服務 處 and擁護 政府 written in the periphery of the board, in clerical-style calligraphy. Middle and bottom:美容 院 written in clerical-style calligraphy. - ^ Li, Jianming;
李 健明 (2020). 你看港 街 招牌 [Look! The Hong Kong Street Signs] (in Chinese) (增 訂 版 ed.). Hong Kong. pp. 168–173. ISBN 978-988-8675-48-7. OCLC 1200804402.{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Qiu (2000), pp. 111, 125–126.
- ^ Creamer, Thomas B. I. (1992), "Lexicography and the history of the Chinese language", in History, Languages, and Lexicographers, ed. by Ladislav Zgusta, Niemeyer, p. 110.
- ^ Gao, James Z. (2009), Historical Dictionary of Modern China (1800–1949), Scarecrow Press, p.41.
- ^ Qiu (2000), pp. 121, 147–148.
Works cited
[edit]- Qiu Xigui (裘锡
圭 ) (2000) [1988]. Chinese Writing. Translated by Mattos, Gilbert L.; Norman, Jerry. Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China and The Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California. ISBN 978-1-55729-071-7. - Fang Chuanxin (
方 传鑫) (2003).隸書 十 講 [Ten Courses on the Clerical Calligraphy] (in Chinese). Shanghai:上海 書畫 出版 社 . pp. 1–6. ISBN 7-80672-700-0. OCLC 54470488.
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