The Research Of The Variant Chinese Characters In Official Script Inscriptions Of The Tang Dynasty Professional Disciplines: Chinese Philology

Official script inscriptions on the tablet in Tang Dynasty----(official script,an ancient style of calligraphy current in Han Dynasty),are a typical representative of official script in the post-official-script era.It is of great significance in many aspects to carry out in-depth investigation and research of these written materials,seek the source of their forms and structures,describe the basic situation of their inheritance and variation,and sums up rules to understand them.Rubbings of 199 inscriptions of official script of Tang Dynasty are collected,among which variant Chinese characters are made a comprehensive arrangement.They are analyzed from the perspectives of calligraphy and philology,rules summarized,reasons induced,and theories discussed,so that solid evidence materials and theoretical references at this stage are provided for the study of evolution of official script characters and of development history of Chinese characters.The paper is divided into four parts: introduction,the derivative pathway of variant Chinese characters,elements of ancient Chinese script in variant Chinese characters,and chirography features and character variation of the official script.Chapter One,Introduction.First of all,it outlines the source of inscription materials and the principle of grapheme selection in official script of Tang Dynasty.Secondly,it makes a brief introduction to the official script inscriptions of Tang Dynasty,elaborates the definition and classification of variant Chinese characters,concisely describe the elements of ancient Chinese script that are preserved in official script inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty.Thirdly,it illustrates the research significance and value of this topic.Fourthly,it comments on the current research situation of the variant Chinese characters in official script inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty.Finally,it illustrates research ideas and methods of this topic.Chapter Two,the derivative pathway of variant Chinese characters in official script inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty.Start from several perspectives of variant strokes of a Chinese character,complicated grapheme,simplified grapheme,variations in combinations,component replacement,erroneous mixture of grapheme,grapheme categorization,and new characters from Wu-Zhou Dynasty,it reviews the origin and evolution pattern of the variants of official script inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty on the basis of inscription character examples.Among them,the variation of strokes is influenced by writing materials,writing tools and the characteristics of flat and square structure and shape of official script of the Tang Dynasty;simplified grapheme is the main stream tendency of the evolution of Chinese characters,there are lots of simplified variant Chinese characters in official script inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty,whose simplified ways vary a lot;the phenomenon of complicated grapheme occurs from time to time,and with a certain degree of randomness;variations in combinations are mainly driven by the quality of the structure and shape of the official script of the Tang Dynasty to be upright and foursquare with good order;component replacement mostly inherits the phenomena of the same kind in ancient Chinese script or official script of Han Dynasty,and with a strong analogy;erroneous mixture of grapheme is mostly a general phenomenon in the stage of contemporary script;grapheme categorization is characterized by provisionality and unreasonableness;new characters of Wu-Zhou Dynasty are newly created words that are put into use during the period when Emperor Wu Zetian is in power,whose survival time is rather short.Chapter Three,the ancient Chinese script elements in the variant Chinese characters in official script inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty.Specifically,the ancient Chinese script elements in the variant Chinese characters in official script inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty mainly contains two aspects of stipulated ancient characters of official script and ancient Chinese script components,whose official script inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty that follows ancient Chinese script get their main structure source from Xiao Zhuan in Origin of Chinese Characters,a style of calligraphy,adopted in the Qin Dynasty for the purpose of standardizing the script.The ancient Chinese script components include the shape of Zhuan and stipulated component of ancient official script,whose existence reflects the tendency of engravers' of official script inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty to imitate antiquity and seek differences.Chapter Four,calligraphy features of official script and the variation of official script inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty.Mostly,official script inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty is rigorous in its Chinese character stroke formation,upright and foursquare in good order.The phrase of‘upholding rules' is generally used to summarize the Tang Dynasty calligraphy all the time,but some calligraphers blaze a new trail in continuous pursuit of individuality,making official script of the Tang Dynasty have a style of its own.The official script of the Tang Dynasty follows the ancient Chinese script with its own features at the same time.This chapter analyzes the influence of calligraphy features of official script of the Tang Dynasty upon character variation in details from the aspects of strokes variation of official script of the Tang Dynasty and features of its structure and shape.