The Evolution of Chinese Characters

Oracle Bone Script (甲骨文 jiǎ gǔ wén)

The earliest evidence of written Chinese traces back to the Shang Dynasty from 3000 years ago, where ancient characters were carved on animal bones and turtle plastrons.

Bronze Script (金文 jīn wén)

Towards the end of Shang Dynasty, Chinese characters were carved onto bronze vessels. These bronze inscriptions are also known as Bronze Script. It has thicker strokes as compared to the Oracle Bone Script, and was also used in the Zhou Dynasty.

Seal Script (篆书 zhuàn shū) / Small Seal Script (小篆 xiǎo zhuàn)

The Bronze Script then evolved to the standardised Seal Script, and later the unified Small Seal Script under Qin Shi Huang’s rule in Qin Dynasty. Both of these scripts had round and elongated characters. They formed the foundation of the Chinese characters we see today, and they are also used in modern-day Chinese calligraphy.

Clerical Script (隶书 lì shū)

The Clerical Script evolved from the Qin Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, and was divided into the Qin style and Han style Clerical Script. This script no longer reflects the images of material objects. Instead, it is closer to modern-day Chinese characters. It has broad and flat characters and is often used in Chinese calligraphy.

Regular Script (楷书 kǎi shū)

The Regular Script was developed towards the end of the Han Dynasty, and it is still in use to this day. It is considered the dominant Chinese script today and can be found in a lot of printed materials, such as novels, textbooks and so on. It is said to be fully evolved in the Tang Dynasty, which means that modern days Regular Script closely resembles the Regular Script used more than 1000 years ago!

Conclusion

Written Chinese has come a long way, evolving through the different dynasties. Today, Chinese from different locations use different characters. Places such as Taiwan and Hong Kong continue to use traditional Chinese, preserving the heritage of the language, while places such as Singapore and China use simplified Chinese due to its convenience.

Talk to our Chinese Tuition Teacher to kickstart your Chinese learning in Singapore. 

Hey! I am Xinyu, a friendly and optimistic uni student with a love for capturing sunsets and beautiful skies! You can either find me rope skipping at void decks or watching Chinese dramas in my free time. I find the Chinese language and culture mesmerising, and I hope you will too as you read through my articles. See you around!