Bird-Worm Seal Script

       The Bird-Worm Seal Script is also known by the names Bird Script, Worm Script, and Bird Seal, and has been used for many generations. The earliest known reference to "Worm Script" is found in Xu Shen's "Shuowen Jiezi," which is from the Eastern Han Dynasty and lists "Worm Script" as one of the eight styles of Qin writing. The "Worm Script" was still one of the "Six Styles" at the start of the Western Han Dynasty. According to Xu Shen's "Shuo Wen Jie Zi," "Since the Qin Dynasty, there are eight styles of books: one is Big Seal Script, two is Small Seal Script, three is Carved Symbols, four is Worm Book, five is Copy Seal, six is Sign Script, seven is Shu Script, and eight is Official Script." Worm Books were known as "Worm Books" during the First Emperor of Qin's reign Name it The Worm book since it is made in the shape of insects and birds, suggested Yan Shigu of the Sui and Tang dynasties. Suo Jing stated that the "Bird seal is a kind of object and pictogram, and there are so many philosophical changes which are clever" during the Western Jin Dynasty. Liu Xie wrote in "Wen Xin Diao Long" during the Southern Dynasty (Liang): "The quantity of seal script is the remnants of the bird seal script, which was collected by Li Si. The distinction between "Bird Seal" and "Bird Script" refers to the latter's independent existence.

Gou Jian's sowrd, who was the king of Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period (Hubei Provincial Museum Collection)

       The length of the sword is 55.7 cm, the hilt is 8.4 cm long, the width is 4.6 cm, the head is turned outward into a round hoop shape, 11 concentric circles are cast inside at a distance of only 0.2 mm, and the sword is covered in a recurring dark lattice pattern in the form of a black diamond. The back of the lattice is covered in turquoise, while the front is covered in blue lucite. The sword has two razor-sharp blades, a long, slender body with a central spine, and a curved, concave front edge. Concentric circle jewelry with two convex hoops on the stem. The sword is significant because, among the many swords used by King Goujian during the Spring and Autumn eras, it was the "self-use" sword. After examining the metal under a microscope with a 3000x magnification, Tan De Rui from the Shanghai Municipal Museum discovered chemical treatment remnants at a thickness of one hundredth of a millimeter. Proton fluorescence analysis of the sword's surface decoration and composition revealed that it was primarily made of tin-bronze, with minor amounts of aluminum and nickel, and that sulfur was used to create the gray-black diamond pattern and the black hilt and grill. The sword of King Goujian of the Spring and Autumn Period is a priceless bronze weapon that is extremely important for understanding ancient Chinese bronze casting methods and texts as well as studying the history of the Yue Kingdom.

Painted Mirror with Bird-Worm Seal Script (Tsinghua University Art Museum Collection)

       The diameter is 28.2 cm, and there are four groups of objects inside: people on foot, people sitting on the ground, people riding horses, four horses towing a cart, and a big tree. This mirror is among the painted ones and features the only seal script inscription of birds and insects that has ever been seen. The image shows four groups of eight black and white characters each, for a total of 32 characters, in the inscriptions. The poetic form of the Chu and Song dynasties is represented by the inscription system, which consists of seven lines each with the word 猗 (兮) added at the end.

       The inscription reads: 制察美恶无私亲猗（兮），□流阴光□□□□，□之□□阑其真猗（兮），□彼□诤□取□猗（兮）。

       The bird-worm writing style is distinguished and beautiful, rich in decorative effects, unpredictable, and challenging to distinguish frequently. It frequently takes the form of a gold inlay. Like the painting that develops into the Bird Script, it is the original representation of the ancestors to be remembered. The cover painting is exactly like the stream of Bird Script, according to Wei Chen Si Wang Zhi. Where the text with the plume animal intention shape is in this example, the outer edge of the bird script is quite large. Worm script is one of the traditional Chinese character calligraphy styles. For instance, "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" explains the "虫" character as a three-inch-long Crotalinae with a head the size of an arm-finger-long elephant. The underline signifies that the character is lying down and is unable to see, and the dot denotes the character's hair. All words beginning with "虫" belong to the worm class. Qin has eight different script types, including "Worm Script." No matter how thick the brush is, similar or not, as long as it has the charm of birds and worms, the connotation of the Bird-worm seal script is richer.

       From a lexical perspective, from the pre-Qin to the Han dynasties, all animal forms were used as characteristics of decorative calligraphy, regardless of the subject of its simulation, and these forms included birds, worms, fish, phoenixes, diamonds, and others. Even though the calligraphic strokes in decorative calligraphy from before the Han Dynasty are complex and varied, it can be categorized under the term "Worm Script" in its broadest sense. However, the primary shape of the worm-, bird-, and fish-shaped composition for the majority of the other side is relatively uncommon. Scholars generally agree that the relationship between the bird script and the worm script is closely related to the bird-shaped composition of the brush strokes if "in addition to the bird's head under which are flexed like the worm shape can be seen." The Worm Script is the script with a bird's head for the bird but no bird's head. Almost all characters with the same inscription as the bird script but without any features resembling birds can be categorized as worm script. In comparison, it exceeds the quantity of bird scripts.

       The Warring States era, which is a little later than the invention of the Bird-worm seal script, is when the seal was first used. It flourished during the Han Dynasty, which is a long time after its earlier flourishing periods during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Very few ancient seals from the Warring States era still exist, and those that do not have as elaborate decorations as those from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States eras and the later Han dynasty. The Warring States and Spring and Autumn seal scripts were the basis for the seal's composition, and the basic structure of the script was preserved without the addition of any new components to make it more recognizable. On the basis of this, some strokes are treated like birds. This treatment may be related to the seal's social role as a credential (it is difficult to make it too complicated, otherwise it would be difficult to identify it), but it also reflects the Jin script's aesthetic vogue at the time.

       Although straightforward, the Warring States-era seal in the seal script of birds and worms was clearly well-planned, and its composition took into account the seal's characteristics, serving as a template for later seals. The Han dynasty marked the pinnacle of ancient seals and the height of bird-worm seal script's glory. Regardless of the decorative methods used, the placement of the strokes on the surface of Han Dynasty seals tends to be balanced, with little empty space and a general evenness. These new features set them apart from the ancient seals from the Warring States period. The seal script has reached its full development stage and established the figuration and abstraction modes of expression. Figurative: Although there are obvious animal motifs in the lines, the deformed animal images in the strokes do not take away from the original characters' structure, brushwork, or backwardness. It is elegant and vibrant. Most frequently observed in early Western Han Dynasty jade seals from the Han Dynasty.

Alive

       春秋时期巨大的社会变动，引起了人们思想、文化、心态的解放，因此在文字方面人们急切渴望有符合时代审美要求的新形式出现，春秋中期具有美化装饰作用的鸟虫书因此而产生。春秋晚期至战国早期，各个诸侯国铸造青铜器的数量达到历史新高度，不同国家青铜器铭文风格异彩纷呈，文字美化装饰进入鼎盛时期。到了战国中、晚期，随着治铁业的兴盛、青铜器铸造数量的减少，文字美化现象进入衰落期。总之，鸟虫书随着春秋战国时期文字美化的时代潮流而产生，是青铜器铭文不断发展的结品。

       In "Wu Neng Zi," which states, "Nature is worms, unnatural is what human is," the worm script is combined with the bird shape, or the bird shape is attached to the top and bottom of the character for decoration. This suggests that the author intended for readers to respect and understand the birds and worms in the mountains and coexist with nature. The development of the bird-worm seal script represents a successful attempt to balance human civilization with nature while fostering growth.

Part of the information from the Baidu Baike, Zhihu,CNKI

“A Thousand-Year Mysterious Script - Bird-Worm Seal Script" by Guipei Li, Mu Xin Printing Co.

《常用鸟虫篆书法字典》樊中岳

《鸟虫篆大全》徐谷甫

《兰台世界》期刊《鸿都“鸟虫篆”发覆》杨继刚
《中国书法》期刊《鸟书__虫书__鸟虫书简说》靳鹤亭 

《中国书法》期刊《书学视野下“鸟虫书”性质研究》邢建丽
《收藏家》期刊《西汉早期__鸟虫篆铭彩绘镜》