Alphabet Key To History Of Mankind

Author(s): David Diringer
Publisher: Hutchinsons Scientific and Technical Publications

Page 108

CHINESE LANGUAGE AND WRITING 107
Main Varieties of Chinese Writing On the whole, the main varieties of early Chinese writing are the ku wént, or "ancient figures," the ta chuan, or greater seal," the hsiao chuan, or "lesser seal'' and li shu or "official script." "These four figured in the original Shuo wên, where most of the leading or entry' characters were in 'Small Seal,' the text was in li shu, and examples of ku avên and chou wên (synonymous with ta chuan) were cited in order to explain steps in evolution." (W. P. Yetts.) The Shuo wên mentions five other varieties of Chinese writing employed under the Ch'in dynasty (221-206 B.c.), the k'o fu, inscribed on tallies; the ch'ung shu, fanciful characters
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Fig. 57-Main types of Chinese writing 1. Chun. 3, Shan fany ta chun. 3, Li shu. 4, T'ao shu. 5. Ker sleu. 6, Hsing shu
shaped like birds or insects, the mu yin, used for stamps or seals, and two varieties of the shu shu, one employed for official notices, and the other used for inscriptions. Another style of writing, the pa fên lies midway between the hsian chuan and the li shu.
There are no documents extant written uniformly in any of the most ancient scripts. On the earliest bronzes extant and on the "Honan bones," the ku wên predominate, some of which are already in an evolved form, but there are also some simple pictograms, as well as some symbols which may be considered as ta chuan. According to L. C. Hopkins, both the ta chuan (traditionally, as already said, attributed to ca ninth century B.c.) and the hsiao chuan (attributed to ca. 220 B.c.) have been created