Seal script (simplified Chinese: 篆书; traditional Chinese: 篆書; pinyin: zhuànshū) is an ancient style of Chinese calligraphy. It evolved organically out of the Zhōu dynasty script (see bronze script), arising in the Warring State of Qin. The Qin variant of seal script became the standard and was adopted as the formal script for all of China in the Qin dynasty, and was still widely used for decorative engraving and seals (name chops, or signets) in the Han dynasty. Ever since, its predominant use has been in seals, hence the English name. The literal translation of its Chinese name 篆书 (zhuànshū) is decorative engraving script, because by the time this name was coined in the Han dynasty, its role had been reduced to decorative inscriptions rather than as the main script of the day.
See Chinese Calligraphy for examples of seal script compared with modern Chinese script. Most modern-day Chinese people cannot read seal script, so it is generally not used outside the fields of seals and calligraphy.
Read more about Seal Script: Large Seal Scripts, Evolution of Seal Script, Unified Small Seal Script
Famous quotes containing the words seal and/or script:
“Shut not so soon; the dull-eyed night
Has not yet begun
To make a seizure on the light,
Or to seal up the sun.”
—Robert Herrick (1591–1674)
“If it’s a good script I’ll do it. And if it’s a bad script, and they pay me enough, I’ll do it.”
—George Burns (b. 1896)