Chinese calligraphy is full of variety and history.
Clerical script is a good example of this.
It forms a bridge between the most ancient and newer writing scripts.
It was once the standard script for the mighty Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) (a contemporary of the Roman Empire).
Thereafter, it was replaced by today’s regular script.
But for nearly 2,000 years, it’s survived and enjoyed a niche following amongst some calligraphers.
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Clerical script: Overview
Clerical script (隶书 [lìshū]) is a formal and official Chinese character script that first emerged during the Qin dynasty (221 – 206 BC).
It was in popular use for approximately 400 hundred years before it was partially supplanted by regular script.
However, it remained a popular medium for official documents and inscriptions.
It has three main forms, each corresponding to the time it was used in:
- the Qin
- Former Han
- Later Han (see below).
Today, clerical script can still be seen all across China.
It is still practiced by calligraphers and is particularly popular on monuments and even in shop signage.
Features of clerical script
The clerical script has a firm, upright, and distinguished look about it.
It is perhaps best understood in reference to the small seal script, which it emerged from.
Small seal consists of rectangular shapes with long curved strokes. By contrast , clerical is square-shaped and has straighter strokes.
In instances where multiple strokes were needed for small seal script, less are needed for clerical script. And multiple dots are unified into single strokes in other cases.
Clerical script characters are only about 80% of the height of small seal ones.
So, the brush doesn’t need to travel as far for each stroke and to move into position for the next stroke.
These more compact strokes are aided by multiple angles, which further contribute to speed and efficiency.
These factors contribute greatly to clerical script’s practicality.
Silkworms’ heads and swallows’ tails
Horizontal strokes in clerical style first introduced the silkworm’s head (蚕头) and swallow’s tail (燕尾) feature of horizontal strokes.
Eight-part script
The eight-part script (八分 [bā fēn]) is a form of clerical script said to have been created by the Qin official Wang Cizhong.
It’s not entirely certain why it is called this. It might be because:
- The character for eight (八) is made up of two approximately even and balanced strokes.
- The different character strokes could possibly go in eight different directions.
Or another reason entirely.
Some scholars believe that ‘eight-part script’ is actually a changeable category, like regular script.
According to this view, today’s clerical script is essentially the eight-part version of Han dynasty clerical script.
Han dynasty clerical script is the eight-part version small seal script. And small seal script is the eight-part version of large seal script.
Clerical script and regular script
Regular script emerged later than clerical script, but is clearly derived from it, too.
To make things more complicated, clerical script would have been seen to be regular script when it was in popular use.
And today, regular script is sometimes referred to as ‘today’s clerical’ (今隶 [jìn lì]) to distinguish it from different scripts that were considered regular in earlier periods.
Translating the Chinese for ‘clerical script’ into English
It is difficult to directly translate the Chinese name for clerical script,隶书 (lìshū), into English.
Lì (隶) can be translated as ‘clerk/clerical’ or ‘official’ in Chinese. Zàoyì (皂隶) is an archaic name for a government runner or messenger (often referred to as a yamen in English).
It has even been suggested that the lì (隶) comes from nùlì (奴隶) which means ‘slave’. This perhaps makes sense in context of the story of Cheng Miao (see below), but appears unlikely to be true otherwise.
History of clerical script
Qin dynasty (221 – 206 BC): Standardisation and destruction
The short-lived Qin dynasty (it lasted only fifteen years) was a significant turning point in Chinese history.
It was the first time in Chinese history that most of China was unified into one empire.
The Qin dynasty was known to have destroyed many precious historical records.
This was said to have been carried out because scholars were referring to them to criticise current polices.
(He is also said to have buried alive 460 scholars as a warning to others).
The destructive side of these centralisation efforts reduced the historical record of Chinese script at the time.
But examples of a distinct clerical script do exist from this era. And it is easy to why it would have developed during this time.
After all, communication would have been a very big part of the centralisation and standardisation of the dynasty’s goals.
Origins
There is a popular story about the origins of clerical script. At present, no solid evidence for this story has been uncovered. And many scholars believe it might not be true.
The story has it that during the Qin dynasty, the official Cheng Miao (程邈 [Chéng Miǎo]) was imprisoned for criticising the Qin Emperor.
Cheng then spent ten years in his prison cell improving the small seal script that was then in use. He created about 3,000 clerical script characters.
So great was Cheng’s achievement, the Qin Emperor released and promoted him. Thereafter, clerical script was used all across the empire.
The Former (or Western) Han dynasty (202 BC – 9 AD)
After the Qin dynasty fell apart, many elites across the China wanted autonomy back.
A return to how it had been during in the Zhou dynasty that preceded the Qin.
The Han dynasty largely went down this path. But it also maintained some Qin policies and bureaucratic structures.
These efforts and relative centralised government no doubt helped the clerical script grow in usage.
It became markedly distinct from its Qin form.
The Later (or Eastern) Han dynasty (25 – 220 AD)
This era is noted for the success of Confucianism (which had been around for centuries by this point) and the expansion of education system.
The Imperial Academy, where future government ministers were trained, grew from a few dozen to over 30,000 students in the second century.
These factors contributed to the development of the clerical script, which began to look different from its Former Han form.
However, during this time, regular script emerged and replaced clerical script.
Hereafter, clerical script was primarily used decorative purposes.
Tang dynasty (618 – 907 AD)
Tang dynasty calligraphy stands out its the high number of brilliant calligraphers and innovations. It is still considered a golden for the art.
The Tang saw the first major revival of clerical script, although its usage was still largely confined to calligraphy as an art (rather than writing for practical purposes).
This revival also brought about a change in the script. Tang clerical (唐隶) script is still seen as largely distinct from Han dynasty models it was based (and built) on.
The Emperor Xuanzong (r. 685 – 762) commissioned a treatise on techniques of writing of clerical script. This helped shape the script of centuries afterwards.
Song dynasty (960 – 1279)
Song dynasty calligraphy is characterised by the its connection to the personal expression of the scholar-official.
It saw a move away from the strict regularity of the Tang dynasty’s standard script and the flourishing of running script.
Clerical script was still practiced by some calligraphers, most notably Mi Fu (1051 – 1107).
However, this was a relatively experimental script for Mi Fu. He didn’t innovate in it beyond adapting his running script brushwork to create a highly personalised form of clerical script.
Yuan dynasty (1271 – 1368)
Early in the Yuan, the painter Gong Kai (1222 – 1307) inscribed his paintings with a form of clerical and seal script.
(The Yuan was the first dynasty where inscribing calligraphy directly onto paintings became popular.)
The most famous calligrapher (and artist) of the era was Zhao Mengfu (1254 – 1322), who occasionally practiced clerical script.
Yu Zhi (1272 – 1348) also mastered the script. As with Zhao, not much of his clerical script work survives.
However, in general, many pieces of clerical script from the dynasty have survives.
(We know about Zhao and Yu’s mastery of the script from surviving contemporary writings.)
Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644)
Interest in clerical script declined in the early part of the Ming.
And when the script was used, very large characters were favoured (i.e., often very short, 4-character pieces for example).
By the mid-Ming, Wen Zhengming (1470 – 1559), one of the greatest calligraphers of the dynasty, was writing clerical script pieces small characters.
Wen often used clerical for frontispieces to works, too. His application of brush mastery to the script helped secure his reputation as the dynasty’s clerical script master.
By the latter part of the dynasty, Zheng Fu (1622 – 1693) helped develop another revival in the script.
Aided by his large collection of ancient calligraphy, Zheng re-developed the script according to Han-clerical (汉隶).
In other words, models based on the Han dynasty, rather than the Tang-clerical style developed under Xuanzong, came resurged.
Qing dynasty (1644 – 1911)
The Qing dynasty is noted for its scholarship and increasing specialisation. This allowed calligraphers to get even closer to Han-clerical models.
One noted expert in clerical script was Yu Yue (1821 – 1901).
Besides researching clerical in his scholarly work, Yu also favoured it for everyday purposes.
This deeply informed understanding and regular use helped him develop a fluent and highly personal style that stayed close to the script’s true forms.