Page:The Chinese language and how to learn it.djvu/26

8 known as the "tadpole-headed," in which all the characters are made to terminate in a form similar to the tail of a tadpole. Of this latter form few, if any, genuine examples exist, though tradition has it that a copy of a portion of the Chinese Classics written in the "tadpole" script was discovered about the year 150 B.C. hidden away in the walls of the house originally occupied by Confucius, where it had been placed by some of his descendants to escape the burning of all written records by the Emperor Shih Huang Ti in B.C. 213. The first of the above mentioned six styles is known as the Chuan Shu, commonly called the "Seal character" by Europeans. It is said to date from the reign of King Hsüan (B.C. 827) whose hunting exploits are supposed to be recorded on the Stone Drums.



The next is the Li Shu, or style of official attendants or clerks. It was used by writers in the public offices, and possibly dates from the time of Chi'n Shih Huang Ti (B.C. 213).



The third is the Chʻiai Shu, or pattern style, from which all modern forms have originated. This probably dates from the beginning of the Christian Era.



The fourth, the Hsing Shu, may be translated as the "running hand," the pencil being carried from stroke to stroke without being raised from the paper, but no abbreviations unauthorized by the dictionaries appear to have been introduced. Date, about A.D. 200.