Editing Small seal script (section)

== History ==
During the [[Eastern Zhou]] dynasty ({{circa|771}}{{snd}}256&nbsp;BC), local varieties of [[Chinese character]] forms had developed across the country, producing the 'scripts of the six states' ({{lang|zh|六國文字}})—which were later collectively referred to as [[large seal script]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seal Script |url=https://www.cityu.edu.hk/lib/about/event/ch_calligraphy/seal_eng.htm |access-date=2023-09-28}}</ref> This variance was considered unacceptable by the nascent [[Qin dynasty]] (221–206&nbsp;BC), who saw it as a hindrance to timely communication, trade, taxation, and transportation, as well as being a potential vector for fomenting political dissent.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Galambos |first=Imre |year=2004 |title=The Myth of the Qin Unification of Writing in Han Sources |jstor=23658631 |journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=181–203 |doi=10.1556/AOrient.57.2004.2.2 |issn=0001-6446}}</ref> Around 220&nbsp;BC, [[Qin Shi Huang]] ordered a systematic standardization of the country's weights, measures, and currency, as well as its writing system. Character forms which differed from those used by Qin scribes were discarded, with the Qin forms becoming standard across the entire empire.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Diringer |first=David |title=The book before printing: Ancient, Medieval and Oriental |publisher=Dover |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-486-24243-9 |location=New York}}</ref>