| Bird-worm seal script | |
| Also Known As: | Niao Chong script |
| Type: | Logographic script |
| Languages: | Old Chinese |
| Date: | c. 771–476 BC |
| Time: | Spring and Autumn period, Zhou dynasty, Warring States period |
| Fam1: | Oracle bone script |
| Sisters: | Seal script |
| Children: | Bird seal script, Worm seal script |
| T: | 鳥蟲篆 |
| S: | 鸟蟲篆 |
| L: | bird worm seal |
| P: | niǎochóngzhuàn |
| Tp: | niǎochóngzhuàn |
| Bpmf: | ㄋㄧㄠˇ ㄔㄨㄥˊ ㄓㄨㄢˋ |
The bird-worm seal script is a type of ancient seal script originating in China.
The Chinese character Chinese: 鳥 (niǎo) means "bird" and the character Chinese: 蟲 () means "insect", but can also mean any creature that looks like a "worm", including invertebrate worms and reptiles such as snakes and lizards (and even the Chinese dragon). The character Chinese: 篆 (zhuàn) means "seal (script)".
Other names for this kind of seal script:
There are two subcategories (sub-styles):
Seal script evolved from oracle bone script, and diverged into different forms in the Spring and Autumn period, after the power of the Zhou dynasty waned and China began to divide into different states.
This kind of seal script first appeared in the middle era of the Spring and Autumn period. It then became popular during the late Spring and Autumn period, and was most popular during the Warring States period. It was often seen in kingdoms such as the Wu (roughly today's Jiangsu Province), Yue (roughly today's Zhejiang Province), Chu (roughly today's Hunan and Hubei provinces), Cai, Xu, and the Song. Each state in China during the Warring States period had its own variety of script.
These kinds of seal script declined after the Qin dynasty, most likely due to the unification of writing scripts by Qin Shi Huang (unified into the small seal script), after his unification of China, although they were used during the Han dynasty.[2]
The bird seal script is often seen on bronze and iron antiques of the Yue Kingdom (roughly today's Zhejiang Province). The script was used on bronze and iron weapons, like swords, to indicate ownership or date of completion. The characters engraved on the famous Sword of Goujian provide a fine example. A few examples of the bird seal script can be seen in or on containers and jades of that period. The bird seal script was also used occasionally in the Han dynasty seals (mainly the jade seals), as well as a few eaves tiles and bricks.[3]
The worm seal script is more common in, and probably originated from the Wu Kingdom (now roughly Jiangsu Province) or Chu Kingdom (now roughly Hunan Province and Hubei Province). Examples can be seen on antique bronze weapons, containers, jades, and seals (mainly the bronze seals of Han dynasty),[4] and constructional or decorative parts like tiles, etc. The characters on the famous Spear of Fuchai are a good example of this category of seal script.