Lishu

The rise of Lishu can be traced back to the end of Warring State period. The political and economic instability and various reforms had accelerated the development of written language. Although Emperor Qin had united the written language of China, the common people preferred more simplified written characters. Changes were seen in the customary to use a more squarish Chinese characters rather than the round small seal script.

During late Qin Dynasty, the official of Criminal Justice often used Lishu in their writing Of official documentation due to their heavy workload. This type of writing was known as Qinli. (Qin refers to the Qin Dynasty, li refers to the form of characters Li). HAving gone through many years of development and modification, during the late West Han Dynasty, Lishu was seen to be more systematic and organized. During the late Han Dynasty, Lishu was fully developed and become the primer for Kaishu.

Generally, the written style before Lishu was known as ancient writing. Till today, zhuanshu and Lishu are among the popular writings use in calligraphy and seal craving.

 Written by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty