Chinese chancellery script

Stone tablet from the Huashan Temple ( 華山 廟 碑  /  华山 庙 碑 , approx. 100 BC)

The clerical script ( Chinese  隸書  /  隶书 , Pinyin lishu , zhuyin ㄌ ㄧ 'ㄕ ㄨ , Jyutping dai ⁶ syu ¹ ) is one of the five main categories of Chinese calligraphy .

The Chinese chancellery script was developed to cope with the amount of official documents in the chancelleries with a script that can be executed faster. According to legend, a prison guard from the Qin dynasty named Cheng Miao (Chinese 程邈) invented the chancellery script by modifying the seal script . The characters are structured in a straight line, wider rather than high, and often have single lines that run out in a curve. This script was more comfortable to write than the seal script and saved a lot of valuable time.

Because of its good legibility, the office font is still used in China for headings, on posters and in advertising.

See also: oracle bones

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