Clerical script

The clerical script (; Japanese: 隷書体, ''reishotai''; Korean: 예서 (old spelling 례서); Vietnamese: lệ thư), sometimes also chancery script, is a style of Chinese writing which evolved from the late Warring States period to the Qin dynasty, matured and became dominant in the Han dynasty, and remained in largely active use through the Wei-Jin periods. In its development, it departed significantly from the earlier scripts in terms of graphic structures (a process named '' libian'', or "clerical change"), and was characterized by its rectilinearity, a trait shared with the later regular script.

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 specific subtype of the clerical script, the ''Han'' ''clerical'' () or ''bafen'' () ''script''. This style of calligraphy is characterized by the squat character shapes, and its "wavy" appearance due to the thick, pronounced and slightly downward tails that are uptilted at the end.Qiu (2000), p. 121.

History

Origin

Historical accounts, including the Book of Han and the postface of '' Shuowen Jiezi'', often mistakenly attribute the clerical script to the Qin dynasty clerks, claiming that the clerks had devised the script to cope with the heavy workload. 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 (), who was said to have invented it at the behest of Qin Shi Huang.

However, archaeological findings have shown that the clerical script was not the invention by a certain person or certain people, but was evolved naturally from the earlier scripts.Qiu (2000), p.107. It has also been argued that, rather than being established by government scribes, clerical script was already in popular use, and its use by clerks in the Qin dynasty merely reflects this trend.

The clerical script was developed from the local script varieties in the state of Qin in the Warring States period.Not to be confused with the Qin dynasty. These scripts are said to belong to the Qin-state script system (), and were the basis on which the Qin-dynasty small seal script was standardized. The folk varieties of the Qin-state scripts can be seen to already have employed shapes that are more rectilinear in the more orthodox scripts, with less long, sinuous lines and more readily segmented strokes, and are closer to the later clerical script than to the small seal script in both style and structure. In particular, some scripts discovered on bamboo and wooden slips are stylistically distinct from the earlier and even contemporary Qin-state scripts, and thus are often seen as a form of early clerical script. Examples include the Shuihudi Qin bamboo slips (circa 217 BCE), and the Qingchuan wooden slips (circa 309 BCE).

Maturation

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. 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 uptilted at the end;
* The horizontal stroke also occasionally has a thick, downward dropping tail with a slightly uptilted end, typically when it is one of the longer horizontally-directed stroke in a character.

The last two features above are sometimes called "the wavy propensity" () or "the wavy downward strokes" (). Additionally, the leftward-falling strokes and anticlockwise curves also tend to have upward tilted ends.

Clerical scripts before the formation of these features are often called ''Qin clerical script'' () or ''old'' ''clerical script'' (),Note that the term ''old clerical'' might be referring to another concept. See the subsection "Historical nomenclature" in the section "Names" below. which include the early clerical scripts from the late Warring States period to the early Han dynasty. Clerical scripts with these features are called ''Han'' ''clerical script'' () or ''bafen'' () ''script.'' The style of ''Bafen'' script is the basis of most of the later clerical-style calligraphy.

The most mature form of the ''bafen'' script can be found in the late Eastern Han dynasty, with "carefully and neatly executed" inscriptions on stelae. These stelae are regarded as calligraphic works of great significance, and are often used as models of clerical-style calligraphy. Some important inscriptions include:

* 西嶽華山廟碑, 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, 乙瑛碑, ''The Stele of Yi Ying;''
* 郃陽令曹全碑, 曹全碑, ''The Stele of Cao Quan;''
* 漢故穀城長盪陰令張君表頌, 張遷碑, ''The Stele of Zhang Qian''

Transition to the neo-clerical script

A new type of clerical script, for which Chinese palaeographer Qiu Xigui termed the name "neo-clerical" (), arose in the Eastern Han dynasty. The script, for convenience, abandoned the heavy tails present in the ''bafen'' script, while taking influence from the contemporaneous cursive script. Influenced by this new script style, the semi-cursive script would then arise, which would in turn give rise to the regular script. The neo-clerical form, or an intermediate form of the neo-clerical and the semi-cursive forms, is said to have become the way the common people wrote by the Wei-Jin period.Qiu (2000), pp. 138-149.

By the Northern and Southern dynasties, the regular script had succeeded the clerical script and become the principal script in use.

As a calligraphic practice

After the Northern and Southern dynasties, the clerical script was no longer actively in use, but its style survived in calligraphy.

In the Tang dynasty, calligraphers including Han Zemu (), Shi Weize (), Li Chao () and Cai Youlin () were renowned for their clerical calligraphy. From the Tang to the Ming dynasties, calligraphers occasionally wrote in clerical style as well.

The Qing dynasty saw a revival in clerical-style calligraphy, with notable calligraphers such as Jin Nong, Deng Shiru, Yi Bingshou () and Zheng Fu ().

Modern use

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, signboards, and advertisements.

There are a number of computer fonts that display CJK characters in the clerical style.

Names

The etymology of the Chinese name for the clerical script () is uncertain. has been explained as ("prisoner-in-servitude") or ("convict; official of a particularly low rank"). Some infer that the script was used in recording the affairs related to such prisoners, while others infer that it was used by prisoners conscripted as scribes.

Clerical script is also known as "clerical characters" (), "assistants' writing" (), "historical writing" (), and "official script".

Historical nomenclature

From the Northern and Southern dynasties to the Tang dynasty, the regular script was still sometimes referred to as instead of . To distinguish from the Han-dynasty clerical script proper, it was also referred to as the ''recent clerical script'' (). The Han-dynasty clerical script might accordingly be called the ''old clerical script'', , which, as has been pointed out, is now also the name for the early clerical scripts before the ''bafen'' development.Qiu (2000). pp. 121, 147-148.

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clerical Script
Writing systems
Chinese script style
Logographic writing systems
Chinese characters