The seal script is the first formalized Chinese writing system based on pictographs. It was standardized by the Qin dynasty and spread to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. The Han dynasty added forgotten characters to the official dictionary, and modern Chinese calligraphy artisans and scholars can still read and write using this system.
Seal script is the common English term given to the first formalized Chinese writing system. The most common Chinese term for this system is zhuan shu, which roughly translates to “decorative engraving script.” Believed to have been invented around 3,000 BC, Chinese writing was based on pictographs: the written symbol for “a mountain” was a pictorial representation of an actual mountain. With the unification of China as a country around 200 AD, a dictionary of all Chinese characters was written. This ancient stylized script remains in modern government and business use for things like postage stamps and seals.
Mountain villagers see and characterize a mountain differently than desert dwellers. Ancient Chinese pictographic writing systems varied widely by region. With the advent of the Iron Age, the regional kingdoms of China entered the Warring States Period which lasted for over 200 years. The westernmost kingdom of Qin prevailed and unified all of China in 221 BC The seal script originates from Qin.
The first Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered all evidence of variant writing systems destroyed, including the burning of the books. Its chancellor Li Si was charged with writing, disseminating and enforcing the new country’s first standardized dictionary of 3,300 characters of Chinese seal writing. Some modern scholars point out that Qin had two writing systems, described as large and small seal characters. It is the latter that has become the predecessor of modern Chinese writing. Furthermore, this writing system spread beyond China to become the ancestral origins of Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese.
The ruthlessness of the early Qin dynasty, in a short time, provoked a peasant revolt and rebellion against the Chinese rulers. This turmoil ushered in a long period of cultural peace and prosperity called the Han Dynasty, from 206 BC to AD 220. Nearly forgotten written characters were recovered and added to the official dictionary, and a final version called Shuowen Jiezi consisting of more than 9,300 characters was compiled. Most modern Chinese refer to their writing system as Han in origin.
When a modern Chinese character is juxtaposed side by side with its ancient seal character counterpart, the similarity is often notable. Without the comparison, however, it’s just a guess and most people can’t read it. Those who can both read and write using this system include scholars of ancient texts, Chinese calligraphy artisans, and engravers of official notary seals and ink stamps called name chops
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