Chinese Bronze Script

Script Details

Chinese Bronze Script

A Western Zhou bronze gui vessel, c. 1000 BC

PericlesofAthens, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

Maps

Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Shang_dynasty.svg "Shang dynasty" by Gurdjieff licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

DISCLAIMER: This script is still being researched

Data

ISO 15924 None
Type Morphographic Syllabary
Family Hanzi
Direction TtB, RtL
Diacritics No
Contextual Forms No
Capitals Used No
Earliest Location Erlitou, Yanshi, Henan Province, People's Republic of China (PRC)
Earliest Date 1750 BCE - 1530 BCE
Latest Date ~200 BCE - Present
Ancestry

Overview

This refers to scripts found on ritual bronze artifacts. At the time, standardization of Chinese writing had not yet occurred and characters were written irregularly and in different orientations. Bronze inscriptions in the early days were cast using clay molds in which writing was written using a stylus. In later pieces, the bronze was often engraved after being cast.

There is no single bronze script. This script is distinguished from oracle bone scripts because of the medium and the complexity of the script. Different scripts were used stylistically by different nations during the Warring States period. Furthermore, scholars today believe that bronze scripts may have been considered more formal due to the conservative use of the medium.

Bibliography

Author Year Publication Publisher
Allan, Sarah 2007 Vol. 66, No. 2 (May 2007), Erlitou and the Formation of Chinese Civilization: Toward a New Paradigm, 461-496 The Journal of Asian Studies,
Boltz, William G. ed. Peter T. Daniels and William Bright 1996 The Writing Systems of the World, Section 14: Early Chinese Writing, 191-199 Oxford University Press
Chen, K.Y. 2023 Oracle Bone Inscription Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences
Peng, Peng 2020 Metalworking in Bronze Age China: the Lost-Wax Process Cambria Press