Small Seal Script


Lesser or Small Seal Script (小篆 Xiaozhuan), or Hsiao-chuan is associated with the work on Chinese characters compiled by Li Si during the Qin Dynasty under the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang.

Before the Qin conquest of the other regions of China, regional characters were used. Under unification of China, currency, laws, weights, measures and writing was to be systematised. Thus, the characters which were different to those found in Qin were discarded, and Li Si's xiaozhuan character became the standard.

The systemizing came at about 220 BC, and was introduced by Li Si and two ministers[1]. The small cursive form clerical script came after this script form[1].

Li Si's compilation is known only through Chinese commentaries through the centuries. It is purported to contain 3,000 characters.

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