Seal Script

Seal script (simplified Chinese: 篆书; traditional Chinese: 篆書; pinyin: zhuànshū) is an ancient style of Chinese calligraphy. It evolved organically out of the Zhōu dynasty script (see bronze script), arising in the Warring State of Qin. The Qin variant of seal script became the standard and was adopted as the formal script for all of China in the Qin dynasty, and was still widely used for decorative engraving and seals (name chops, or signets) in the Han dynasty. Ever since, its predominant use has been in seals, hence the English name. The literal translation of its Chinese name 篆书 (zhuànshū) is decorative engraving script, because by the time this name was coined in the Han dynasty, its role had been reduced to decorative inscriptions rather than as the main script of the day.

See Chinese Calligraphy for examples of seal script compared with modern Chinese script. Most modern-day Chinese people cannot read seal script, so it is generally not used outside the fields of seals and calligraphy.