Chinese character

Chinese characters or Han characters (??/??) are logograms used in the written forms of the Chinese language, and to varying degrees in the Japanese and Korean languages (though the latter only in South Korea). Use of Chinese characters has disappeared from the Vietnamese language ? in which they were used until the 20th century ? and from North Korea, where in normal writing they have been completely replaced by Hangul.

Styles

The earliest Chinese characters are the so called Oracle Script of the late Shang Dynasty, followed by the Bronzeware Script or (金文) jīnwén during the Zhou Dynasty. These scripts no longer serve as anything but a source for scholars.

Related Topics:
Oracle Script - Shang Dynasty - Bronzeware Script - Zhou Dynasty

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The first script that is still in (restricted) use today is the "Seal Script" or 篆書 zhuànshū. It is the result of the efforts of the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, in the standardization of the Chinese script. The Seal Script, as the name suggests, is now only used in artistic seals. Few people are still able to read the seal script, although the art of carving a traditional seal in the seal script remains alive in China today.

Related Topics:
Seal Script - Qin Shi Huang

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Scripts that are still used regularly for print are the "Clerk Script" or 隸書 lìshū, the "Wei Monumental" or 魏碑 wèibēi, the "Regular Script" or 楷書 kǎishū, the "Song Style" or 宋體 sòngtǐ (mainly used in printing and computer fonts), and the "Running Script" or 行書 xíngshū. Modern Chinese handwriting is usually modeled on the Running Script.

Related Topics:
Clerk Script - Wei Monumental - Regular Script - Song Style - Running Script

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Finally, there is the "Draft Script" (also called "Grass Script"), or 草書 cǎoshū. The draft script is an idealized calligraphic style, where characters are suggested rather than realized. Despite being cursive to the point where individual strokes are no longer differentiable, the draft script is highly revered for the beauty and freedom that it embodies. Many simplified Chinese characters are based on this style.

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