Seal script collection character composition method

Author: Cao Jian (Editor-in-Chief), Gong Wen (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2002-12-01
Features: The development of Chinese characters has a long history. From the legendary invention of characters by Cang Jie to the present day, it has gone through various scripts such as oracle bone script, bronze script, seal script, clerical script, regular script, running script, and cursive script. Regardless of which script, they have recorded and promoted the development of cultural and artistic arts in specific historical stages, playing a vital role and jointly bearing the responsibility of inheriting Chinese civilization. At the same time, the script of Chinese characters is also calligraphy. Whether in the conscious or spontaneous stage of calligraphic art, the calligraphy works carried by these scripts are treasures in traditional Chinese art. They have nurtured generations of artists and will continue to play a positive role in the development of contemporary calligraphic art. Chinese characters are pictographic, but their development direction is symbolic, following the principle of simplification. The transformation into clerical script is the dividing line between pictographic and symbolic. After the emergence of clerical script, various scripts such as cursive script, running script, and regular script appeared in the evolution of Chinese characters, and to this day, they are still common and widely used. Before the transformation into clerical script, Chinese characters were in the ancient script stage, characterized by pictographic features, including oracle bone script, bronze script, and other forms. We usually refer to the seal script before the Qin Dynasty as Great Seal Script, and the seal script after the Qin Dynasty as Small Seal Script. The Great Seal Script has a more pronounced pictographic feature and exhibits the characteristic of multiple forms for a single character. The Small Seal Script is a reduction of the Great Seal Script, with its pictographic features gradually weakening and its linear and symbolic features becoming stronger. The Great Seal Script is represented by oracle bone script and bronze script, while the Small Seal Script is represented by the unified script of the Qin Dynasty. Whether it is the Great Seal Script or the Small Seal Script, they have already retired from the historical stage of practical use, although they are sometimes still used in inscriptions on steles and other occasions. However, their artistic value does not diminish over time, which is why many people still appreciate and practice the art of Small Seal Script calligraphy today. This small book is compiled to meet the current needs of readers for Small Seal Script practice, aiming to bridge the gap between copying and creating Small Seal Script for calligraphy enthusiasts, providing a shortcut for learning and exploring calligraphic art. Small Seal Script is difficult to recognize, especially the Great Seal Script, so it is necessary to overcome the challenge of recognizing characters; Small Seal Script does not have the concept of strokes, and it is necessary to summarize the rules of brushwork through continuous practice. These aspects require more effort from Small Seal Script practitioners. The practice of Small Seal Script copying is intended to memorize their pronunciation and form, and to explore the rules of brushwork. However, the creation of Small Seal Script is often intended to serve the appreciation of modern society, with the content of the characters mostly reflecting the spirit of the era, which may make creators encounter many characters they have not practiced before and do not know how to write them. Due to the pictographic nature of Small Seal Script, the differentiation and independence of radicals and components are not perfect, so there may be errors when creating new characters by combining the radicals of one character with those of another. The composition of Small Seal Script also differs from the requirements of modern calligraphic composition due to different usage contexts. This small book is based on these two practical factors, providing readers with multiple examples of character-composed creative works for reference and learning, thereby achieving twice the result with half the effort. The Small Seal Script selected in this small book is up to the Han Dynasty Small Seal Script of the Xin Dynasty, including Great Seal Script works such as the "Wall Plate," "Sani Plate," and "Gu Ji Zi Bai Plate," works from the transitional period from Great Seal Script to Small Seal Script such as the "Shigu Inscription," "Qin Decree Plate," and "Qin Jialiang," and Small Seal Script works such as the "Yingshan Inscription" and "Xin Mang Jialiang." Most of the characters in this book are directly composed from these original works, with only a few characters composed according to the forms provided by "Shuowen Jiezi" by combining the components of the original characters. The book is rich in content, diverse in form, innovative in composition, and detailed in explanations, making it very suitable for with a certain foundation.