Western Han Cursive Script: Divine Bird Fu

Author: Zhuang Xingxing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-07-01
Features: The Great Series of Chinese Folk Calligraphy. "The Legend of the Divine Bird," unearthed in March 1993 from a Western Han Dynasty tomb in Yinwan Village, Donghai County, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, is written on over 20 bamboo slips, each measuring 23.5 cm in length and 9 cm in width. "The Legend of the Divine Bird" is a folk story themed around birds, employing a personification writing style. The story depicts a female bird fighting thieves to protect her nest and portrays the injured female bird's concern for the male bird's future life before her death, conveying profound meaning that served an edifying role during the late Western Han Dynasty. "The Legend of the Divine Bird" uses numerous homophonic characters in its writing, with the title itself using "" (fu) to stand for "" (fu). Based on its calligraphy, "The Legend of the Divine Bird" is a cursive script work. Cursive script is a special writing style that simplifies the structure of characters by condensing and connecting different components, reducing strokes to make writing more efficient, thereby achieving the purpose of saving time and effort.