Great Seal Script Comprehensive Dictionary

Author: Tian Qishu (Editor)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: July 1, 2004
Features: This book is a comprehensive calligraphy dictionary with a wide range of styles, abundant model characters, and numerous schools. It collects the calligraphy works and model characters of many ancient and modern calligraphers, aiming to provide a comprehensive, rich, and convenient calligraphy reference book for ancient Chinese language teaching, ancient script research, calligraphy and seal carving creation, decorative design, collection, and calligraphy enthusiasts. There are numerous calligraphy books in China, too many to list, and for the Six-Style Calligraphy Dictionary to stand out among them, it must highlight its unique features. In my opinion, the Six-Style Calligraphy Dictionary has three key features:
First, the six styles. In currently published calligraphy dictionaries, it is difficult to find a complete collection of large seal script, including oracle bone script, bronze inscriptions, ancient seal script, Han Chu bamboo slips, etc. Most people mistakenly believe these characters are not widely used and lack practicality. However, Chinese characters have a long history and have evolved through many forms. From the oracle bone script of the Shang Dynasty, bronze inscriptions of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, ancient script, ancient bronze inscriptions, ancient seal script, pottery script, Han Chu bamboo slips, small seal script of the Qin Dynasty, brick and tile inscriptions of the Qin and Han dynasties, seal inscriptions, clerical script of the Han Dynasty, Wei Stele regular script, to the mature regular, running, and cursive scripts of the Jin and Tang dynasties, all of this demonstrates that the development of Chinese calligraphy has been interconnected and complementary, gradually approaching maturity. For example, variant characters of cursive script originate from seal script. Without mastering seal script, it is difficult to truly master cursive script. This dictionary lists these scripts, allowing calligraphers to identify the patterns of calligraphic evolution.
Second, this book adopts the calligraphy works of nearly 600 ancient and modern calligraphers (including some Japanese calligraphers), over 400 pieces of calligraphy, and nearly seven reference books. It collects over 4,850 cursive characters and a total of over 121,130 examples. The vast number of characters collected and the wide range of calligraphers covered are rarely seen in similar books, providing calligraphy enthusiasts with a more comprehensive learning space.
Third, due to the large number of characters collected, some may not be fully included. In such cases, the compilers have consulted some contemporary Chinese calligraphers, such as Zhang Hai, Lin Shiji, Chen Ximing, Li Li, and Yan Jialong, to supplement the characters, making the book even more complete.