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''Libian'' () refers to the natural, gradual, and systematic simplification of
, however the left-side component became replaced with ("body") during the transition to clerical script writing.
*Mutation (): Some characters undergo modulation so suddenly that no clue hinting at the original form can be found in the new form. For example, the transition from the seal script character 
("spring") to the clerical (and by extension, modern) form completely drops any hints of the original component, instead replacing it with which seemingly has zero basis in relation to the original component.
*Omission (): The complete omission of a character component. For example, the clerical script form of (''shū'', 
.
*Reduction (): Simplifies character components to a form with fewer strokes. For example, the ancient form of 
/ (''xiān'', Old Chinese: /*sen/; "celestial being") had the complex phonetic component (Old Chinese: /*sʰen/) simplified into (Old Chinese: /*sreːn/), creating the clerical form .
One consequence of the ''libian'' transition process is that many radicals formed as a result of simplifying complex components within seal script characters (for example, characters containing "heart" 
/ on the side had the component simplified into , as seen in and ), and these newly-formed radicals are still used in modern-day Chinese writing as the fundamental basis for constructing and sorting Chinese characters.
Chinese characters
Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...
over time during the 2nd Century BC, as Chinese writing transitioned from seal script
Seal script, also sigillary script () is an ancient style of writing Chinese characters that was common throughout the latter half of the 1st millennium BC. It evolved organically out of the Zhou dynasty bronze script. The Qin variant of seal ...
character forms to 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 Qi ...
characters during the early Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
period, through the process of making omissions, additions, or transmutations of the graphical form of a character to make it easier to write. ''Libian'' was one of two conversion processes towards the new clerical script character forms, with the other being ''liding
''Liding'' (), sometimes ''lixie'' (), is the practice of rewriting ancient Chinese character forms in clerical or regular script. ''Liding'' is often used in Chinese textual studies.
Definition and terminology
During the Han dynasty, the c ...
'', which involved the regularisation and linearisation of character shapes.
Process
The earlier seal script characters were complicated and inconvenient to write; as a result, lower-level officials and clerics () gradually simplified the strokes, and transitioned from writing with bowedink brush
Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thicke ...
es to using straight ink brushes, which both improved ease of writing.
The complexity of characters can be reduced in one of four ways:
*Modulation (): The replacement of character components with an unrelated component. For example, the ancient bronze form of (''shè''; "to shoot an arrow") was written as , however the left-side component became replaced with ("body") during the transition to clerical script writing.
*Mutation (): Some characters undergo modulation so suddenly that no clue hinting at the original form can be found in the new form. For example, the transition from the seal script character ("spring") to the clerical (and by extension, modern) form completely drops any hints of the original component, instead replacing it with which seemingly has zero basis in relation to the original component.
*Omission (): The complete omission of a character component. For example, the clerical script form of (''shū'', Old Chinese
Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...
: /*hlja/; "to write") completely omits the phonetic component (Old Chinese: /*tjaːʔ/) at the bottom of the seal script form .
*Reduction (): Simplifies character components to a form with fewer strokes. For example, the ancient form of / (''xiān'', Old Chinese: /*sen/; "celestial being") had the complex phonetic component (Old Chinese: /*sʰen/) simplified into (Old Chinese: /*sreːn/), creating the clerical form .
One consequence of the ''libian'' transition process is that many radicals formed as a result of simplifying complex components within seal script characters (for example, characters containing "heart" / on the side had the component simplified into , as seen in and ), and these newly-formed radicals are still used in modern-day Chinese writing as the fundamental basis for constructing and sorting Chinese characters.
Examples
References
{{reflist Chinese characters