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33-528: From an early age, Wei espoused the New Text school of Confucianism and became a vocal member of the statecraft school, which advocated practical learning in opposition to the allegedly barren evidentiary scholarship as represented by scholars like Dai Zhen . Among other things, Wei advocated sea transport of grain to the capital instead of using the Grand Canal and he also advocated a strengthening of

66-746: A bureaucratic apparatus peculiarly like that available to Han dynasty rulers, and hence by methods which strikingly echoed those of putative enemies of Wang Mang , the modernists. The Former Han (206 BC – AD 8), prior to Wang Mang, had favored the Current Script Text. When Wang seized power, he declared the Ancient Script Texts to be the state orthodoxy. After the Han restoration, the Current Script Texts became orthodox again. Later Han (AD 25–220) scholars began favoring

99-511: A number of computer fonts that display CJK characters in the clerical style. The etymology of the Chinese name for the clerical script ( 隸書 ) is uncertain. 隸 has been explained as 徒隸 ('prisoner-in-servitude") or Chinese : 隸人 'convict', 'official of a 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

132-402: 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 subtype of the clerical script, the Han clerical ( 汉隶 ; 漢隸 ) or bafen ( 八分 ) script. This style

165-562: Is a style of Chinese writing that evolved from the late Warring States period to the Qin dynasty . It matured and became dominant in the Han dynasty , and remained in active use through the Six Dynasties period. In its development, it departed significantly from the earlier scripts in terms of graphic structures (a process known as libian ), and was characterized by its rectilinearity,

198-627: Is also known as 'clerical characters' ( 隸字 ), 'assistant writing' ( 佐書 ), 'historical writing' ( 史書 ), and "official script". From the Northern and Southern dynasties to the Tang dynasty, the regular script was still sometimes referred to as 隸書 instead of 楷書 . To distinguish from the Han-dynasty clerical script proper, it was also referred to as the 'recent clerical script' ( 今隶 ; 今隸 ). The Han-dynasty clerical script might accordingly be called

231-463: Is characterized by the squat character shapes, and its "wavy" appearance due to the thick, pronounced and slightly downward tails that are up-tilted at the ends. Historical accounts, including the Book of Han (111 CE) and the postface of Shuowen Jiezi ( c.  100 CE ), mistakenly attribute the clerical script to Qin dynasty clerks, claiming that the clerks had devised the script to cope with

264-638: Is said to have become the way the common people wrote by the Six Dynasties period. By the Northern and Southern dynasties , the regular script had succeeded the clerical script and become the principal script in use. 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 ( 韓擇木 ), Shi Weize ( 史惟則 ), Li Chao ( 李潮 ) and Cai Youlin ( 蔡有鄰 ) were renowned for their clerical calligraphy. From

297-559: Is the emperor who is ultimately responsible for keeping or losing the Mandate of Heaven. The "ancient script texts" had a peculiarly archaist bent. They emphasized the sage-like as opposed to the prophet-like characteristics of Confucius, thereby making him look more like the earlier sages who founded and ruled the Zhou dynasty or even the still more archaic states which preceded it. And yet, these archaic sage-kings are shown ruling China with

330-481: The Five Classics discovered during the Han dynasty , written in a script that predated the one in use during the Han dynasty, and produced before the burning of the books . The term became used in contrast with "Current Script Classics" (今文經), which indicated a group of texts written in the orthography currently in use during the Han dynasty. Historical sources record the recovery of a group of texts during

363-483: 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: A new type of clerical script, for which Chinese palaeographer Qiu Xigui termed the name "neo-clerical" ( simplified Chinese : 新隶体 ; traditional Chinese : 新隸體 ), arose in

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396-400: The "ancient script texts" because they were written in the pre-Qin writing. The discoverers of the "ancient script texts", such as Liu Xin , claimed that all existing texts suffered from an interrupted pedigree, which was rectified by the newly discovered texts. "Current Script text" supporters claimed that the "ancient script texts" are forgeries that lack a line of transmission. In reality,

429-409: The Ancient Script Texts. Zheng Xuan synthesized the teachings of both schools. While he was very influential, he was unable to unseat the Current Script Texts orthodoxy though the issue became moot when both schools disappeared after the collapse of the Han. Zheng became the mainstream source of interpretation until the appearance of Neo-Confucianism in the Tang and Song dynasties . The controversy

462-467: 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,

495-455: The Mandate of Heaven in the dynasty's hand and is an act of greater loyalty. The Ancient Script school was rationalistic. They rejected apocrypha and believed that the classics were only edited by Confucius. They believed history was caused by human actions and viewed the Son of Heaven (the emperor of China ) as the axis mundi whose will was absolute . Officials may advise but not disobey as it

528-459: 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,

561-466: The Qin-state script system ( 秦系文字 ; 'Qin-branch scripts'), and were the basis on which the Qin 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 than 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

594-691: The Qing Empire's frontier defense. In order to alleviate the demographic crisis in China, Wei also spoke in favor of large scale emigration of Han Chinese into Xinjiang . Later in his career he became increasingly concerned with the threat from the Western powers and maritime defense. He wrote A Military History of the Holy Dynasty (《聖武記》, Shèngwǔjì , known at the time as the Shêng Wu-ki ),

627-589: 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 ( 伊秉綬 ) and Zheng Fu ( 鄭簠 ). 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, logos, signboards, and advertisements. There are

660-506: The books or were rescued by the Han dynasty in the provinces. Surviving scholars in the direct line of transmission of these texts got hold of surviving copies and transliterated them into the new orthography. The "ancient script texts" were the ones that off and on since the late 2nd and during the 1st century BC had turned up, some discovered in the walls of Confucius's residence, or in Warring States period graves. They were called

693-590: The burning of the books probably did little more than symbolically burn a few copies of the Confucian books conveniently at hand in the capital. Many other copies survived elsewhere, and these were available for copying into the new orthographic standard set by Qin and its clerical script successor which evolved under Han dynasty. It was the change in orthography which divided the Warring States and early imperial period textual traditions, and in this respect

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726-460: The clerical scripts continued to mature and stabilize, finally arriving at a visually unique style. This style is characterized by the following points: The last two features above are sometimes called the 'wavy propensity' ( simplified Chinese : 波势 ; traditional Chinese : 波勢 ) or 'wavy downward strokes' ( 波磔 ). Additionally, the leftward-falling strokes and anticlockwise curves also tend to have upward tilted ends. Clerical scripts before

759-431: The formation of these features are often called Qin clerical script ( 秦隶 ; 秦隸 ) or 'old script' ( 古隶 ; 古隸 ), 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 script' ( 汉隶 ; 漢隸 ) or bafen ( 八分 ) script. The style of bafen script is the basis of most of the later clerical-style calligraphy. The most mature form of

792-461: 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 ( 程邈 ), 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

825-589: The last half of the 2nd century BC from the walls of Confucius ’s old residence in Qufu , the old capital of the State of Lu , when Prince Liu Yu (d. 127 BC) attempted to expand it into a palace upon taking the throne there. In the course of taking the old wall apart, the restorers found versions of the Classic of History , Rites of Zhou , Yili , Analects of Confucius and Classic of Filial Piety , all written in

858-747: The last two chapters of which were translated by Edward Harper Parker as the Chinese Account of the Opium War . Wei also wrote a separate narrative on the First Opium War (《道光洋艘征撫記》, Dàoguāng Yángsōu Zhēngfǔ Jì ). Today, he is mostly known for his 1844 work, Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms , which contains Western material collected by Lin Zexu during and after the First Opium War . The main principles advocated in

891-525: The newly discovered texts were no different from those used as the basis for the "current script text" transcriptions soon after the fall of Qin dynasty . The "current script texts" portray Confucius as a prophet or "uncrowned king" that should have received the Mandate of Heaven . He could perform miracles and wrote the Five Classics himself. The New Text school, founded by Dong Zhongshu , believed

924-420: The old orthography used prior to the reforms of the clerical script . Hence, they were called "Ancient Script texts". By the 1st century, a new controversy had begun between these two texts. The "current script texts" are those that had been transliterated into the new orthography back in the beginning of 2nd century BC, either from oral transmissions or from texts that had survived the Qin dynasty's burning of

957-520: 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 texts ( c.  217 BCE ), and the Qingchuan wooden slips ( c.  309 BCE ). In

990-425: The texts were sacred and carried hidden clues to the future that they tried to decode. They were also interested in apocryphal writings that were abstruse and esoteric. They believed historical events were caused by cosmic forces beyond the control of man. They also believed officials should disobey the sovereign's decree if it will harm the state or dynasty. To betray the sovereign for the sovereign's own sake will keep

1023-606: The work were later absorbed by the institutional reforms known as the Self-Strengthening Movement . British India was suggested as a potential target by Wei Yuan after the Opium War. The creation of a government organ for translation was proposed by Wei. Old Text In Chinese philology , the Ancient Script Classics ( Chinese : 古文經 ; pinyin : Gǔwén Jīng ; Wade–Giles : Kuwen Ching ) refer to some versions of

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1056-403: Was evolved naturally from the earlier scripts. 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 . These scripts are said to belong to

1089-561: Was forgotten until it was rediscovered during the Qing dynasty by scholars of Han learning . Significance of the ancient/current script text controversy is a debate topic in the modern sinology. Michael Nylan has proved that the issue itself was an artificial projection of the mid-Han problematic onto the early Han realities. Clerical script The clerical script ( traditional Chinese : 隸書 ; simplified Chinese : 隶书 ; pinyin : lìshū ), sometimes also chancery script ,

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