Tadpole script or Kedou (蝌蚪文, “蝌蚪书”、“蝌蚪篆”) is a variety of Chinese seal script.[1]
| Tadpole script | |
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| Languages | Chinese language |
Traditionally the origin is said to be that tadpole script manuscripts were first discovered when the house of Confucius was pulled down in the second century.[2][3] The name comes from the tadpole-shape with big heads and tails of the characters.[4] It was distinct from the insect script.[5][6] However "tadpole script" can simply be a popular way of referring to the ancient script of the Chou period.[7][8]
References
edit- ^ Chinese History: A Manual - Page 408 Endymion Wilkinson - 2000 -"Kedou 蝌蚪文 (tadpole) script was another variety of seal script. It was named after its appearance: heavy strokes at the top tapering off at the bottom.
- ^ Yin Khoon Wong Unlocking the Chinese heritage - 1990- Page 18 "TADPOLE SCRIPT The origin of Tadpole Script was recorded thus: In the 2nd century, when the house of the Sage Confucius was pulled down for rebuilding, old books written in ancient characters were uncovered from a hiding place behind ..."
- ^ Walter Hillier The chinese language and how to learn it manual for beginners - - 1923 Page 8 "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 ..."
- ^ Monthly list of Chinese books - Volume 3, Issues 1-12 - Page 7 1962 "In the last year of Han dynasty, "tadpole script" was created. The ancient-style characters in the Three Style Stone Classics were carved with broad heads and thin tails (Figs. 17 & 18), somewhat like tadpoles. (Tadpole script with big heads and ..."
- ^ East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine - Issues 26-27 - Page 89 2007 "He also notes that tadpole script was not the same as insect script, traditionally said to have been the script used on banners. Shangshu zhengyi lV"j M IE & (Correct meanings of the Book of Documents), 1815, Ruan Yuan ed., chap. 1 A, pp.
- ^ Papers on Chinese Literature - Volumes 1-2 - Page 105 1993 "The kedoushu "tadpole script" was the old script, guwen originally copied from the footprints of birds by Cang Jie 'mW., minister of the Yellow Emperor, but later destroyed by the first emperor of Qin. In the Han dynasty. Prince Gong &3: of Lu ..."
- ^ From deluge to discourse: myth, history, and the generation of ... - Page 10 Deborah Lynn Porter - 1996 "... most scholars of ancient texts; he concludes that the texts were written in the "ancient script," that is, the "script that was used during the Chou era"; "tadpole script" was simply a popular way of referring to the "ancient script of the Chou period.
- ^ The road to East Slope: the development of Su Shi's poetic voice - Page 102 Michael Anthony Fuller - 1990 "He is said to have invented the seal script. The Shui jing zhu TKILif. (Commentary on the Shui Jing) explains that the term "tadpole script" was applied to the seal script when the old texts were IO2 Fengxiang and the Poetry of Immanent Pattern."