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Dazhuan
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Example of dazhuan from a bronze vessel, 779 bc, Zhou dynasty; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.
Quick Facts
Chinese:
“large seal”
Wade-Giles romanization:
ta-chuan
Related Topics:
Chinese calligraphy
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Example of dazhuan from a bronze vessel, 779 bc, Zhou dynasty; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.
Example of dazhuan from a bronze vessel, 779 bc, Zhou dynasty; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.

Dazhuan

Chinese writing
Also known as: Chou wen, Zhou wen, large-seal script, ta-chuan(Show More)
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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Last updated
•History

Dazhuan, in Chinese calligraphy, script evolved from the ancient scripts jiaguwen and guwen by the 12th century bc and developed during the Zhou dynasty (12th century–256/255 bc). It is the earliest form of script to be cultivated later into an important related art form, zhuanshu (“seal script”), so called because long after it had been superseded as a current writing style, it continued to be used for the carving of seals. Originally, dazhuan must have been written with a brush and ink or lacquer on wood or bamboo tablets or silk. The style is not unlike guwen and is characterized by an austere balance of straight and curvilinear lines of uniform thickness ending in blunt stops. Dazhuan is also known as zhoushu or zhouwen to commemorate its inventor, Shi Zhou.