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Jia Gu Wen is a script used mainly in the Shang dynasty (1600 B.C. -- 1046 B.C.). It was also used in West Zhou dynasty (1046 B.C.-- 771 B.C.) although Da Zhuan is also used at that time. Jia Gu Wen already was written very artistically. But we can not say at that time calligraphy had already been an art.
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xingshu by Wang Xizhi(303-361 Jin Dynasty)
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Qin Shi Huang united the old China in 221 B.C. The official language used in Qin dynasty is Xiao Zhuan. Calligraphy had already been an art at that time. Calligraphy works of Qin dynasty are always high evaluated by calligraphers in history.
The first blooming period of calligraphy as an art should be during the Han dynasty. A calligrapher, Liang Hu went to a restaurant but didn't bring money. He wrote on the wall. People there liked to pay him to watch his calligraphy. A lot of great calligraphers appeared in the Han dynasty. Unfortunately, they usually didn't sign their name after their calligraphy work. Also most scripts formed at Han dynasty such as Li Shu, Cao Shu, Xing Shu, Kai Shu.
Jin is another dynasty with great achievement in calligraphy. A lot of great calligraphers appeared at this time, including Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi.
The South and North dynasty is also a dynasty with great achievement. There're a lot of tablets of North Wei (386-534) with great calligraphy. People called calligraphy works of this period as Wei Bei, which means tablets of North Wei dynasty. Like tablets in Han dynasty, the calligraphers of most of them are unknown.
Tang dynasty is the dynasty that calligraphy is taken most serious. As a result, a lot of great calligraphers appeared, including Yan Zhenqing.
After the Tang dynasty, calligraphy as an art declined. The worst period is the Ming dynasty. From the Song to the Qing dynasty, the greatest calligraphy works in paper were kept in house of the emperor’s family. People rarely had the chance to see them. The only available calligraphy works available to them were the tablets. Fortunately in the Qing dynasty, a lot of tablets were discovered. That's one of the reasons why calligraphy is better in the Qin dynasty.
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