Clerical script

Clerical script
Stele of Huashan Temple, written in the clerical script from the late Eastern Han dynasty
Script type	Logographic
Time period	Bronze Age China, Iron Age China
Direction	Top-to-bottom
Languages	Old Chinese, Eastern Han Chinese
Related scripts
Parent systems	Oracle bone script Seal script Clerical script
Child systems	Regular script
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Clerical script
Chinese characters for 'clerical script' in regular (left) and clerical script (right).
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	隸書
Simplified Chinese	隶书
Literal meaning	clerical script
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin lìshū Bopomofo ㄌㄧˋ　ㄕㄨ Wade–Giles li4-shu1
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	lệ thư chữ lệ
Hán-Nôm	隸書 𡨸隸
Korean name
Hangul	예서
Alternative Japanese name
Kanji	隷書体
Transcriptions Romanization reishotai

Chinese characters
Chinese family of scripts Written Chinese Kanji Hanja Chữ Hán
Historical forms and styles Neolithic symbols in China Oracle bone Bronze Seal (Bird-worm Large Small) Clerical Cursive Semi-cursive Regular Flat brush Typefaces Fangsong Ming Sans-serif
Properties and classification Components Strokes (order) Radical
Collation and standards Character-form standards Jiu zixing Xin zixing Kangxi Dictionary forms (1716) General Standard Chinese Characters (mainland China, 2013) Graphemes of Commonly-used Chinese characters (Hong Kong, 2007) Standard Form of National Characters (Taiwan, 1982) Grapheme-usage standards General Standard Characters (PRC, 2013) Jōyō kanji (Japan, 2010) Other standards Standardized Forms of Words with Variant Forms (PRC, 2002) Nan Min Recommended Characters (Taiwan, 2009) Previous standards Commonly-used Characters (PRC, 1988) Tōyō kanji (Japan, 1946)
Reforms China Clerical reforms Traditional characters Simplified characters (first round second round) Debate Japan Kyūjitai Shinjitai Ryakuji Korea Yakja Singapore Table of Simplified Characters
Homographs and readings Literary and colloquial readings
Variants Graphemic variants Zetian characters
Derived systems Slavonic transcription Nüshu Kana ( Man'yōgana Hiragana Katakana ) Jurchen script Khitan ( Large Small ) Idu script Bopomofo Sawndip Chữ Nôm
Transliteration of Chinese
v t e

The clerical script (traditional Chinese: 隸書; simplified Chinese: 隶书; pinyin: lìshū), sometimes also chancery script, is a style of Chinese writing that evolved from the late Warring States period to the Qin dynasty. It matured and became dominant in the Han dynasty, and remained in active use through the Six Dynasties period.^[1][2][3] In its development, it departed significantly from the earlier scripts in terms of graphic structures (a process known as libian),^[4] and was characterized by its rectilinearity, a trait shared with the later regular script.

Although it was succeeded by the later scripts, including the regular script, the clerical script is preserved as a calligraphic practice. In Chinese calligraphy, the term clerical often refers to a specific calligraphic style that is typical of a subtype of the clerical script, the Han clerical (汉隶; 漢隸) or bafen (八分) script. This style is characterized by the squat character shapes, and its "wavy" appearance due to the thick, pronounced and slightly downward tails that are up-tilted at the ends.