Guwen

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Gǔwén (Chinese: 古文; Wade-Giles: Kuwen) literally means ancient Chinese script. Historically the term has been used in several different ways.

The first usage is as a reference to the most ancient forms of Chinese writing, namely the writing of the Shāng and early Zhōu dynasties, such as found on oracle bones, bronzes, or pottery.

The second usage refers to the forms which are no longer legible to the average modern reader, such that in addition to the above, the writing of the later Zhōu period preserved on stone and bronzes, the Eastern Warring States writing, and the late Zhōu to Qín dynasty seal script are included. Qiú Xīguī uses the term "ancient stage" of Chinese script in this manner, such that the Qín seal script and its predecessors are ancient, in contrast to the clerical script of the late Warring States through Qín and Hàn dynasty and the standard (aka regular, or kaishu) script.

The third and rather well-known usage is as a name for certain graphic forms contained in Shuōwén Jiězì by Xǔ Shèn, which he termed gǔwén, but which were actually from the Eastern Warring States. These forms are often still referred to as guwen but often with clarification, such as Xu Shen's so-called gǔwén.

[edit] References

Chén Zhāoróng (陳昭容) Research on the Qín (Ch'in) Lineage of Writing: An Examination from the Perspective of the History of Chinese Writing (秦系文字研究 ﹕从漢字史的角度考察), 2003 (in Chinese). Academia Sinica, Institute of History and Philology Monograph (中央研究院歷史語言研究所專刊 ). ISBN 957-671-995-X.

Qiú Xīguī (裘錫圭) Chinese Writing (2000). Translation of 文字學概論 by the late Gilbert L. Mattos (Chairman, Dept. of Asian Studies, Seton Hall University) and Jerry Norman (Professor Emeritus, Asian Languages & Literature Dept., Univ. of Washington). Early China Special Monograph Series No. 4. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. ISBN 1-55729-071-7.