Chinese Calligraphy: The Development of Seal and Clerical Scripts
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Shiguwen Stele Inscription (detail), Warring States period, 5th-4th century BC (Gift of Mr. Takashima Kikujiro)
Asian Gallery (Toyokan) Room 8
April 12, 2016 (Tue) - May 29, 2016 (Sun)Around 221 BC, the first Qin-dynasty emperor unified various scripts used during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC) and the Warring States period (476–221 BC) into xiaozhuan, or “small seal script.” The ink rubbing, Inscription on Stone Tablet on Mount Tai, was created when the emperor held a fengchan ceremony on this mountain. Before China was unified under the Qin dynasty, “clerical script” was devised for practical use by simplifying seal script. Moreover, during the Western Han dynasty (206 BC–9 AD), a decorative style called bafen, or “eight-point script,” was developed. Even during and after the Northern and Southern dynasties, when the official script changed from seal to clerical, and then to “standard script,” seal and clerical scripts continued to be used despite changes in their forms. Later, during the Qing dynasty, these two scripts gained attention once again with the rise of epigraphy, or the study of inscribed writings. Visitors are invited to view the transitions of these seemingly arcane and mysterious scripts, which, regardless of the invention of new scripts, remained in use since antiquity.
Current exhibit includes:
Shiguwen Stele Inscription, Warring States period, 5th-4th century BC (Gift of Mr. Takashima Kikujiro)
Inscription on Stele Commemorating the Achievement of a Scholar Named Lou, Eastern Han dynasty, dated 174 (Gift of Mr. Takashima Kikujiro)
Inscription on Stele Commemorating the Restoration of Xuanmiaoguan Temple Gate in Seal Script, By Zhao Mengfu, Yuan dynasty, 14th century
Postscript in Clerical Script for Scroll of Poems, By Wen Zhengming, Ming dynasty, dated 1500 (Gift of Mr. Takashima Kikujiro)
Inscription on Si San Gong Shan Bei Stele, Eastern Han dynasty, dated 117
Couplet of Seven-character Lines in Clerical Script, By Yi Bingshou, Qing dynasty, 18th-19th century (Gift of Mr. Aoyama San'u)